My Memory's Heartache
by nanirain
Summary: A year ago Naraku “killed” Kagome. Now Inuyasha and co. are ready for revenge. But when Kagome mysteriously reappears, everything changes. Why is she acting so strangely? What happened to her? How will this effect her relationship with everyone? Esp. Inu?
1. This Weakened Heart of Mine

Chapter One: This Weakened Heart of Mine 

"Inuyasha." Kagome whispered as she weakly lifted her head upwards, her beautiful brown eyes were dulling and unseeing. She wasn't even looking at him. She couldn't seem to see him.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha called. He could hear the worry in his own voice, and the relief of finally finding her. It had been three days of searching. Three days without sleep or rest or food, of worrying that she was dead. And he had finally found her. She was alive, and soon she would be safe.

"Inuyasha…" Her voice sounded so weak and sickly that it made the anger seethe beneath his skin. How dare Naraku do this to her? How _dare_ he? His anger grew as he raced towards her hanging body, limp and chained to some sort of weird mirror. He was almost there, a few more steps and he would be able to break the chain and free her. The silver haired half-breed's body smashed into a barrier erected around Kagome that he hadn't seen. The barrier's wall crackled with electric power that stung his skin and burned through his fire-rat kimono. He cried out in surprise and pain, before he was thrown to the ground on a heap of smoking limbs.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome said again, staring at him, her eyes milky and unfocused. "Where are you?"

"I'm right here, Kagome." Inuyasha grunted as he pushed himself up. "What's wrong with you?" He asked, coming as close to the barrier as he dared. He could already feel the tingling of his skin, warning him that he shouldn't get any closer. The burnt cloth of his kimono stung his sensitive nose, but he did his best to ignore it. Now he had to save Kagome. That was all that mattered.

Kagome's eyes seemed to focus, and she noticed him for the first time. "Inuyasha… please… help me."

"I'm trying!" Inuyasha resisted the urge to press his hands against the barrier. Suddenly, a thought struck him: He would use Tetsuigia to break through. "Hold on, Kagome!"

He drew the Tetsuigia from its sheath, cringing a little as the cold metal scraped against the rust on the hilt. He raised the massive fang over his head, feeling its power surge through him as the blade began to turn a blood red color. "TETSUI-"

"NO, INUYASHA!" Miroku's voice interrupted him.

Inuyasha froze in mid-stroke, turning with aggravation to Miroku, who was busy holding off a demon with his staff a few yards away.

"WHAT?" Inuyasha demanded, anxious to free Kagome.

"If you use the Tetsuigia, you'll kill her!" Miroku said, "The red blade is too long, you'll slice Kagome in two!"

Inuyasha turned to quickly study the length of the blade. _'Damn.'_ He threw the Tetsuigia back in its sheath. "Miroku's right." Inuyasha said angrily to Kagome. "I can't free you this way!"

"Inuyasha," Kagome's voice was so faint that even he had to strain to hear it.

"Kagome? What's wrong? What are you saying to me?"

"Give me strength." She whispered, tears streaming down her dirty face. "Please… I need help."

"How!" he demanded, in frustration. "What do I have to do?"

"Do you love me?" She asked.

"Wh-what?" The question stunned him. His stomach was immediately pierced with fear.

"Please, Inuyasha." Kagome whispered, her eyes closing. "Do you? Just tell me."

'_Yes.'_ Inuyasha opened his mouth to say that to her, but the words didn't come out. He couldn't. He just couldn't.

"Inuyasha… please." Kagome begged.

"I-" he started, but then stopped.

Kagome's eyes flitted open for a moment. "I'll be gone in only three seconds."

"Kagome…" Inuyasha started, torn.

_Three_

"I-"

_Two_

"What _is_ this!" He shouted in frustration.

_One_

"Kagome, wait!"

Kagome screamed as huge cords of blue electricity began to slither tightly around her body, "INUYASHA!"

"KAGOME!"

Inuyasha pressed his hands against the barrier, not even noticing the way it fried the flesh on his hands. "NO!"

Kagome could only scream, her body thrashing violently as the rusted chains shuddered beneath her weight. Finally, she hung limp, the electric snakes vanishing. Then, slowly her lifeless body began to sink into glass and into the shadows that swirled inside it.

"No!" Inuyasha drew the Tetsuigia desperately, the blade immediately turned red in his grip. "I will _not_ let him take you away from me again!"

His sword sliced through the barrier easily, like cutting through butter, as Kagome disappeared in the thick shadows inside the glass. "Kagome!" He cried desperately, thrusting his hand into the dark, suspended liquid inside the mirror, and immediately he was paralyzed. His body was thick as concrete, his legs and arms were like boards attached to him, unmovable. His vision went black.

'_Where am I?'_ He could hear his own voice echoing through his brain.

'_Inuyasha… what mightier a fool could possibly exist?' _Naraku's amused voice rippled through him with a deafening echo.

'_N-Naraku? What the hell are you talking about? Where's Kagome!'_

'_Kagome…' _Naraku replied with a cold pleasure _'you will never see 'Kagome' again…say farewell to her, Inuyasha, farewell to this foolish maiden. Foolish just as Kikyo was foolish, for she was so sure that you would save her…_'

Inuyasha felt his body explode with rage. He wanted to gut Naraku so badly. He wanted to save Kagome. He wanted Naraku's blood.

' _You couldn't even bring yourself to say three words? Could you?'_ Naraku asked, taunting him from somewhere in the shadows. He was just in his reach. If only he could see him.

'_Shut up and give her back to me!'_

'_You don't deserve her…' _Naraku replied.

'_Give her back!' _Inuyasha demanded. _'I swear… if you lay one filthy finger on her I'll kill you!'_

'_Empty threats don't suit you, Inuyasha.'_

'_Where is she, Naraku!' _

'_She will never come back to you…' _Naraku said slowly. _'But I will let you hear her voice one last time… in hopes that it will drive your pitiful mind insane.'_

'_Naraku! Bastard!'_

'_Inuyasha?'_ Kagome's voice sounded so far away.

'_Kagome! Where are you!'_

'Inuyasha… I'm so cold…' 

'_Tell me where you are Kagome!'_

'_Inuyasha…_' She was drifting farther away from him, while he remained powerless and somewhere paralyzed in the unfathomable darkness. '_Inuyasha, I love you.'_

At the word "love", Inuyasha's soul was set on fire. _'Kagome, I-'_

'_Goodbye.'_

His heart jerked inside his chest. _'W-wait! Kagome don't! I-' _he faltered on the words. _'Kagome… Kagome I love you!'_

Silence was the only thing that replied. He waited forever, waited for her voice to come back to him. Instead, Naraku replied. _'You're too late, half-breed. The next time you see Kagome, she will be dead.'_

'_No! Give her back dammit!'_ Inuyasha could hear his thoughts echoing. _'Kagome! KAGOOOOME!'_ Suddenly, he was back in a world of light. Flying backwards through the air. His right hand was still stretched outwards, and he watched in horror as the black pool began to disappear. "Kagome!" He cried as he hit the ground, instantly pushing himself back up and racing towards the fading black mist. He reached his hand through again, but found nothingness. He was reaching through air. "NO! DAMNIT!" He swung the Tetsuigia into a nearby tree in his frustration. "NO!"

He suddenly became aware of how weak the blackness had made him. His vision began to blur, and his word began to rock and sway, the trees were circling around him. He could hear Miroku's staff clanking as purple and black blurs, which must have been Miroku and Sango, run towards him. "Kagome…" he said dumbly as he lost his balance, and blacked out.

Mrs. Higurashi hummed a song that she had known since she was seven, yet she couldn't remember where she had learned it. The frying onions hissed angrily as she dumped them into the pot, and she continued to hum as she stirred them around.

"I'm going off to school, Mom!" Souta said as he headed out the door.

"Huh?" Mrs. Higurashi turned to see her son's bulging backpack disappearing through the front door. "Wait, Souta!" She called over the hissing of the onions. "You haven't had any breakfast yet!"

"I'll be alright!" Souta's voice came from out the door.

Mrs. Higurashi sighed and turned back to her onions. It looked like only she and her father would be eating breakfast this morning. It was often that way, now that Kagome spent most of her time in the Feudal Era. Souta seemed to lose his interest in home, always running around with his friends at soccer, or making sure that Kagome would be ready to study for everything she missed the few times she ever came home. It was almost as if she had gone to college and moved out already, Mrs. Higurashi noticed sadly, she almost never got to see her daughter anymore.

Quickly she dumped the onions into the pan beside it, into the thick yellow liquid of battered eggs. The omelets would be ready in five minutes. It was a waste that two of them would be uneaten. She realized with a slight twinge of embarrassment and sadness that she still cooked for four, even thought Kagome and Souta were rarely ever around to eat theirs. It had been three years and four months since Kagome had first disappeared into the well in their mini-shrine. That first day, the whole family had been so frantic. She was gone for three days, and no one had known where she was. When she had mysteriously reappeared, in traditional Japanese priestess's clothes, sobbing frantically into Gramps's arms… well, no one knew quite what to think of that either.

At first, Mrs. Higurashi hadn't believed it. Who would? Kagome's story of being pulled into the Feudal Ages by a giant, centipede demon was a little less than believable. And then there was the fact that she had met more demons, and made friends with the villagers. _'Well, technically' _She could remember Kagome saying a year ago. _'Inuyasha's a half demon. His mother was human.'_ Mrs. Higurashi smiled and shook her head. In the beginning, it was obvious that Kagome and Inuyasha weren't the best of friends. The few times she saw Inuyasha would be when he appeared, grabbing Kagome's arm and dragging the usually protesting girl down the well, screaming that she was late and dawdling when they had important things to do.

Mrs. Higurashi remembered still, how she had pulled on the boy's dog-ears the first time she had ever seen him. Back then, whenever Kagome had mentioned Inuyasha, it had been with tones of fear, or annoyance or disgust. And then slowly, month after month, it became obvious that she thought of him fondly, even lovingly. Mrs. Higurashi could always read her children. And she knew almost exactly when Kagome had fallen in love with Inuyasha, the half-demon boy from another era. As Kagome fell more and more in love with him in the past, the less time she would spend in the present. Four months ago, she hadn't even come home for her eighteenth birthday, and the family had been forced to give Kagome her presents a month and a half late.

It was amazing, the way that Kaogme coped with everything. Mrs. Higurashi thought for the thousandth time, as she flipped the first omelet over to cook the other side. She had adjusted to her frantic lifestyle quickly, bringing things over from her time, to accustom herself in their time. Flashlights, food, matches, portable stoves, sodas, books, tents, sleeping bags, even school books. As Mrs. Higurashi stacked the omelets on the plate, she marveled at her daughter's bravery and strength. She was proud of Kagome that was for sure, she only wished that she had been able to spend more time at home…

Mrs. Higurashi stopped in mid-turn when she saw Souta walk slowly back into the kitchen.

"Souta?" She asked. "Did you get hungry and change your mind? She asked, hopeful. "Or did you forget something?"

"Mom…" The thirteen-year-old boy had tears in his eyes, the energetic life in him seemed to have been sapped out. He was pale and shocked-looking. "It's…"

"Souta…" Mrs. Higurashi said, concerned. "What's wrong, don't you feel well?"

Suddenly, from behind Souta, a red figure appeared. His unmistakable mane of wild silver hair, fierce amber eyes, and perched dog-ears identified him at once to be Inuyasha. "Inuyasha?" Mrs. Higurashi looked puzzled at the young man who stood in her doorframe. Why had he come? Kagome should have already been with him. "Are you looking for Kagome?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, suddenly getting and uneasy feeling in her stomach.

"Mrs. Higurashi…" Inuyasha said slowly, staring directly at her.

"What's wrong? Is Kagome sick? Has she got a fever?" Mrs. Higurashi began to ask, nervously, in her gut she had a horrible, cold feeling. In all the three years that she had known him, Inuyasha never once called her, 'Mrs. Higurashi'.

"Mrs. Higurashi…" he said again, blinking fiercely. "Kagome is," he appeared to choke on his words. "Kagome… she's been killed."

There were a few moments of silence, and then the iron pan clattered to the floor, the remains of a perfect omelet strewn on the white and blue tiles, red peppers littering the floor.


	2. No Honor

Author's Notes: Ummm I know there's another way to do this whole a/n thing… but until im smart enough to figure it out I guess I'll just have to include them as part of the chapter. MY SPECIAL THANKS TO MY FIRST TWO REVIEWERS: KAZUMAI AND DOGDEMONINUYASHAANDKAGOME! And um… I guess if it really makes u happy Kazumai, the omelet could have bounced a coupletimes or so before it stopped. In fact it could have bounced right out the front door and ruined the dramatic moment...Aaaaanyway, chapters 3 and 4 are really short so im putting them up at the same time. The 5th chapter will have a bit of violence in it…but not too bad. Thats when things start to get interesting. And it should be known that:I luv all'yall who decided to review! XOX nanirain.

Disclaimer: Now if Inuyasha really was mine... do you think id still be here writing fanfiction about it? No. I'd be... in some fancy spa somewhere. So rest assured, i don't own him his friends or any of the other characters EXCPET Tetsuya (he'll come in later for a bit). Here it is:

* * *

Chapter 3: "No Honor"

"Do you think he's told her yet?" Sango asked Miroku, her voice quiet and small, which was freakishly unusual for her.

"I imagine that by now, he has." Miroku answered.

"What must it be like for her?" Sango asked, the beginnings of tears in her eyes. "Miroku… if I… if _I_ feel like dying… what must it feel like for her?" Sango asked, her voice wavering. She had never met Kagome's mother, but Kagome had always talked about her. Telling stories about her love, or how supportive she was of Kagome.

"To lose a best friend," Miroku said, putting his arm around Sango. "Is very painful… but…" he hesitated for a moment. "But I believe that losing a daughter, may be like losing a part of yourself."

"Miroku… I can't stand it anymore!" Sango shook her head into his shoulder and began to sob. "First my family, and Kohaku… and now… now Kagome. When does it _end_?" She asked desperately.

Miroku couldn't answer. He only held Sango, and let her cry in his arms while her hot tears soaked through his sleeve. He too, was devastated by the loss of Kagome; he had known her for three years, meeting her first when he was only nineteen, and she fifteen, and yet she had always been kind to him, supportive of him. She was the first person to ever make it clear that she cared for him. And although he had fallen in love with Sango, a small part of him also loved Kagome, and he had felt it in his heart when he had lost her. But unlike the others, Miroku was an actor, and he wouldn't allow himself to cry. He had to stay strong for Sango, and Shippo. Even for Inuyasha. Crying was a luxury for only women and children to enjoy.

"Good morrow to ye, monk." A deep, old voice interrupted his thoughts.

Sango hiccupped twice, doing her best to calm her uncontrollable sobbing, before turning her to Kaede, her temple still resting on Miroku's shoulder, his arm still wrapped around her back. "Lady Kaede." Sango said respectively to the old, wrinkled woman. "Forgive me for appearing before you in such a state." Her voice was still quivering with sadness.

"Nonsense, child." The old woman said, her eye patch giving her the air of an old, retired pirate, rather than a weathered priestess. "We all feel the burn of grief, as we mourn our loss…" her eyes seemed to trace the skyline behind them. Sango shuddered into Miroku's shoulder as Kaede muttered the words: "May her good soul rest in peace."

"Lady Kaede," Miroku said, gathering his common sense and manners. "I extend my sympathies towards you. I know this must be hard for you as well."

"Aye." The old woman said, never taking her dark eye off of the golden skyline where the sun was starting to dip beneath the trees. "It is twice now, that I have lost that face."

Sango looked to Miroku, puzzled, her tired, tearstained eyes confused.

"Kagome was thought to be the reincarnation of the great priestess Kikyo." Miroku explained. "Who was Kaede's older sister, and was lost in a battle with Inuyasha and Naraku 53 years ago."

"The resurrected priestess…" Sango said softly, referring to Kikyo, who had been resurrected years ago by the Urasueway.

"Such pain we have all known," Kaede said, he eye still looking at the skyline. "All because we have come into contact with a single man."

"Do not give him the honor of calling him a man!" Sango spat suddenly, furious and emotional. "He is a monster! A heartless, murdering filth! Beings like him are not _worthy_ of the title "_man_"." She said bitterly.

Kaede nodded gently at Sango's passionate words. "Man or not, he is only a single grain of sand, as we all are. And yet look at the ripples that he can create, so immense that they disturb the surface of our waters with life-shattering effects… I wonder then, if it is possible that we all are capable of causing such immense ripples, though we are all merely single grains of sand ourselves."

Miroku blinked and looked at the old woman, as a tear began to cloud her one good eye and stream down the folds of her wrinkled cheeks. She sighed and brushed it away. "When does Inuyasha return?"

Miroku looked up the field with his violet eyes and calm face. "I'd say about now."

They glanced to the right, to find the half demon man standing a few yards away, Shippo, the young fox demon, perched on his shoulder.

"How did it go?" Miroku asked.

Inuyasha blinked and stared hard at the ground. "Not so well…" he muttered. "In the beginning she just stared at me and wouldn't say anything… and then she lost it, she start hitting me, cursing me, taking that damned pan to my head… and then she just collapsed into me, crying, and saying she wouldn't ever forgive me… and that-" his words hitched in his throat for a moment, and he lowered his eyes away from them, no doubt to hide oncoming tears. "And that it was my fault." He said softly. They sat in heavy silence, all staring at Inuyasha. Because they all knew, that it sort of was all his fault.


	3. Slaves and Annoying Little Sisters

In the under-cellar room of Naraku's castle, Kagura was staring at the sleeping girl's figure, paralyzed in the tomb of amber. The girl's hair was loose and spread out. Wisps of the dark silk were frozen in the amber while falling across her face and over her neck. Naraku had stripped her clothes from her and she lay completely exposed, looking peaceful. Kagura felt a bit of some unfamiliar emotion run through her veins. Was it pity? Yes, she imagined it must have been. Now this girl, once so free and independent, would be a slave of Naraku's. _'Just like me.'_ Kagura thought sadly to herself, turning away from Kagome's temporary tomb. Even now, as she placed her small hand against her chest, there was no beating of her heart. She was hollow in the inside. Naraku was her heart, and the wind was her soul. She climbed the ladder up from the under-cellar room to the cellar and then up that to the normal castle floor. She looked out the window, and watched as a spring flower petal fell from a tree, fluttering away in the wind.

'_I am the wind.' _Kagura thought to herself. _'And yet…',_ she looked down to see the palm of her hand… her soul was encased in flesh and blood… in pain. Naraku held her heart, and without that, she could never be free. She felt a twinge of pity for that girl, Kagome, because she once, had also been free. And now, the young priestess and herself had something in common. They were both servants of Naraku. _"No… we are slaves.' _Kagura thought bitterly to herself, as the flower petal disappeared from sight. "We are all enslaved by that monster." Kagura whispered to herself as she started down dark, gloomy halls, even the shadows, clinging to the wood like salamanders, licking their tongues of stirring shade out towards her and then back, seemed to be a part of her prison.

She exited the palace grounds, and stood in ecstasy as the warm winds coiled around her legs and arms, welcoming her. She pulled the feather from her hair and watched at it unfolded to life-size, she hopped up on it, so that she sat comfortably on the giant, feather, five feet long, four feet wide, and yet still as light as gossamer. She breathed in the fresh air as the wind caressed her face and churned her excitement. She was going flying.

When Kagura returned, her cheeks flushed from the wind, her hair cool against her scalp and an allover feeling of light, breathlessness rushing through her, she was approached by her sister. Kanna was a little girl, no more than five or seven, but many times Kagura thought that she was allowed more knowledge than any other incarnate of Naraku's.

She wondered often, why Kanna always talked to her, when it was clear that Kagura wanted freedom, and Kanna didn't seem to have any intentions of going against Naraku's orders.

"Kanna?" Kagura asked as she landed gracefully, returning the now shrunken feather to her hair.

The little girl stared at her with her large black eyes, her white hair and pale skin seemed as lifeless as ever. "It will be many months." Kanna said gently and without expression. "Until the amber tomb around the girl cracks." The round mirror that Kanna always carried with her gleamed as she moved it into an odd angle of light.

"The tomb of amber?" Kagura asked. Suddenly, Kagome's prison shot into her mind. Did that mean that the priestess was going to wake up? Kagura quickly hid her excitement, Naraku might be watching with his poisonous hell wasps, the Samyosho. He always seemed to know when Kagura was going to betray him, or attempt to escape. "Why are you telling me this, Kanna?" She asked, sounding annoyed as she brushed past her little sister.

"Because you yearn for your freedom," Kanna said in her usual quiet voice, though this time her powerless-sounding whispers had stunned Kagura into silence. "And she is the key to everything…"

Kagura froze, and her body turned to ice. Freedom? Kagome would be able to help her gain her freedom? Then should she be doing something to break the amber sooner than it was supposed to? Suddenly it occurred to her for a second time that Naraku might be watching them. "Stop talking about nonsense, Kanna." She snapped, partially out of frustration at not being able to ask her questions. " Your words are as empty as your head! There is no way I could ever escape Naraku…"

With that she left Kagura standing alone in the lawn. The little girl looked so lonely. Kagura wondered, as she glanced over her shoulder at her little sister, if she ever felt the overpowering urge to grasp freedom. Then maybe she would understand…


	4. Freedom

* * *

A/N: Dont ask me why ive suddenly gone so upload happy, i just have. i dont know why. hopefully the story's still good. By the way, just to prove how greateful i am to you reviewers (isisoftheunderground being the most recent), ill tell u that the 3 reviews i have gotten, have resulted in a kind of scarry and energetic scream/happy dance fest. So yeah. REVIEWERS ARE THE BEST!

so lemme know wut u think XOX nanirain

Disclaimer: i only own Tetsuya. luvhim.(he appears in the next chapter... no im not lying)

* * *

Fifth Chapter: Freedom

Months passed. And the fall weather turned to winter. And then the snow began to melt. And the birds began to reemerge, and the leaves cracked open from their woody imprisonments. The trees began to stretch out their flowers and roots, the sun got hotter and brighter, and in the cold dark, under cellar, a fragment of the cracking amber fell to the ground and shattered.

'_Where… where am I?_' Was the first question that struck the girl. Later, it would be followed by countless others, but for the moment, all she could think was "where am I?" The next thing she thought was, '_I can't see_.' She tried in vain to open her eyes, her body was numb and unresponsive, panicking, she tried to scream, but she couldn't open her mouth. '_I… I can't breathe…_' That was what inspired her to struggle. She felt the panicked, pressured feeling spread from her lungs and plunge into her stomach. '_Oh God… I – I'm going to die…_' She didn't want that. Suddenly, as her fear escalated, there was a deafening crack, and the cool air replaced the hard, smooth material that had been pressed over her chest and around her body. She was falling.

Kagome hit the floor lifelessly, and lay sprawled there with the shards of amber, her muscles too weak to move. Sheremained theredumbly for two or three minutes, just breathing. Then she finally pushed herself to a wobbly sitting position and looked around her. But she was so disoriented that she couldn't comprehend any of the dark mass infront of her. What she saw she couldn't understand… but the smell was so putrid that she threw up all over the floor, there was a horrible burn over her skin and an aching feeling in her stomach. She was so scared that she was shaking, and her heart was beating so fast that it hurt. She needed to get out of the room, it was defiled with something. Even breathing the stinking air as like swallowing razors. She pushed herself to her feet and took three steps before falling back to the ground again. She tried to catch herself with her hands but her arms were so weak that she fell to the ground; her face was cut by something sharp and stinging. She could taste the blood in her mouth. She couldn't walk, she realized, panicked, her legs were like jelly.

"Oh God," She groaned to herself, beginning to crawl to the steps, the rough floor was scraping against her sensitive skin. It took her 30 unbearable seconds to stumble to the steps, which she dragged herself up over on all fours. It was so hard to move, and everything around her throbbed painfully. Suddenly she hit something with her head. It was hard and smooth, and it was in her way. She tried to push at the ceiling above her, but it was no use, her arms were too weak. She bit her bloodied lip and fought back hot tears that were stinging her eyes. And the horrible, sickening feeling was growing stronger. She needed to get away from whatever it was in the room, or else she would die. She knew it. She could feel it. Whatever was in the room with her was coming for her, coming to kill her. She didn't want to die. She desperately didn't want to die. So she began to scratch feverantly at the wood ceiling, meanwhile the evil thing in the room was getting closer and closer to her. She could feel it coming up from the base of the stairs.

Suddenly the ceiling opened, and fresh, pure air encircled her, as well as a blinding light. It made her eyes ache, the light of day, but she didn't care, she slowly and clumsily dragged herself up from the dark, bad place, into the upper chamber, and the doors closed behind her. She fell on the smooth floor, and started coughing. Her lungs were still burning and her skinfelt like it wastrying to rip itself off her bones. After a while her heart stopped racing and she knew that she could move without being sick. She sat up against the nearby wall, resting her back up against the rough, white plaster. She sat there and breathed, her body was numb from all the panicking and scrambling. She waited for things around her to become solid, and when they did, she realized that her face was bleeding from when she had fallen. The trail of blood thickened and was trailing into her open mouth, weakly she wiped it away, slightly disgusted, and picked out a shard of amber stone which had been embedded in her cheek, and caused the bleeding. Her hair was warm against her neck and shoulders and stuck to her... her whole body was covered in a slick, cold sweat. And her fingers were bleeding from under her nails, where splinters of wood had embedded themselves when she had been clawing at the ceiling. Her legs and arms were covered with small cuts. Everything hurt, but at the same time everything seemed numb and unreal. Her thoughts had begun to stop racing, and she could hear her breathing starting to come back to a normal pace.

'_Where am I?_' She asked herself for the second time, staring at the plain room she was sitting in. There was no one with her, neither was there any furniture. All she saw was an immaculate wooden floor, polished and smooth, and plain plaster walls. It was uncomfortably empty, and she was alone. Suddenly she was filled with an inexplicable calm. Logic returned to her crazed and confused brain. She needed to find out where she was, if there was anyone with her in this strange place. Suddenly her eyes fell on the cellar door and the cold fear came back to her, she also needed to get away from the cellar. She tried to get up, but realized that she was too weak. She must have been resting somewhere for a long time, that was the only explanation for how weak she was. She obviously hadn't been moving around for who knew how long. A cold sickening feeling hit her when she realized that wherever she had been for all that time, she had also been with that _thing_. With whatever it was down in the cellar. That thought alone was enough to make her start shaking again. She sat there, helpless. How was she supposed to get out of this place, if she was too weak to move and there was nothing or no one but a strangeevil thing in the cellar to help her?

* * *

A/N: Hmmmm... i wonder...well the next chappie is right behind it anyways so... keep reading and find out whether she goes back down into the basement to politely and timdidly ask the "evil thing" to help her out. Betcha u wont guess right! MUAHAHA! (excuse the weirdness... i think im on a caffiene rush... sorry).

Oh and in case you didn't understand what was wrong with Kagome, because she had been in there for like, almost a year, her muscles were very weak. You know when you have to go into therapy after you break your leg or something? It's sort of the same thing. The muscle doesn't get used, so it gets weaker and weaker...yeah...

* * *


	5. Wandering in an Evil Man's Castle

* * *

A/N: Hi guys. Nothing much to say except: REVIEWERS ROCK! and hope you enjoy.

XOX nanirain

Disclaimer: I wish i did own it. But i dont. Aint life just unfair?

* * *

Chapter 6: Wandering Through an Evil Man's Castle

"My Lord."

The young, pale prince turned around to find the little girl standing behind him. Her lost black eyes didn't seem to be quite looking at him or anything else. Her hair was as milky white as her skin. The mirror clutched in her hands showed no reflection. "Kanna?" He asked, slightly annoyed at her disturbance.

"The girl… she's awake…" Kanna said slowly.

At first he was surprised, but then he instantly started to plan. That was the reason he had been so successful. He knew how to plan. He knew how to deal with problems. And he needed a way to deal with the girl. Because she was definitely a big problem. The amber wasn't supposed to have cracked for two more months. She was stronger than she looked. But then again, Kikyo had been as well. "Where is she, Kanna?"

The little girl was quiet for a very long time. "She's in the cellar." She said slowly.

That was surprising. "Did you return her strength to her?"

"No."

"Then how did she get out of the lower-cellar room?"

Kanna remained silent. And he felt his annoyance grow, but he pushed it aside. "Very well then," He said. "Heal her so that she can move." The mirror in Kanna's hands shimmered and glowed for a moment.

"It is done." The little girl said quietly, her voice passive and far away.

"Good." Naraku said. "Then allow her to roam as she pleases for a bit. It is important that she finds us by accident."

"What if she leaves the castle?" A deep sultry voice asked.

Naraku turned to see Kagura standing on the porch behind him. He stared at her with annoyance. She was getting better and better at hiding her presence from him so that he couldn't detect her. That was a bad thing. "The barrier that I have erected around the castle will ensure that she cannot roam away from us… we wouldn't want to have a _runaway_ on our hands… would we Kagura?"

Kagura's face hardened and she looked at him angrily. Naraku knew that Kagura was plotting against him. She may have been an incarnate of himself, but she lacked his stealth and way of planning. She had never admitted that she wanted her freedom, but at the same time it was no secret. Everyone who knew Kagura knew that she craved freedom. It was her nature. She was the wind.

"Then my Lord, should we conceal ourselves?" Kagura said tightly.

"Yes. Do so."

Kagura bowed begrudgingly "Yes, My Lord."

With that, she threw her feather down from her hair and leapt onto it, soaring up into the air. She would hover over the castle until Naraku dropped the barrier, and she knew that everything had gone according to plan. Kanna watched as Kagura took off, before wandering off into the depth of the castle's maze. Naraku wasn't worried that Kagome would accidentally find Kanna. The little girl seemed to know everything and would not be found unless ordered to be found.

"Now, all I must do," He said to himself, satisfied, "Is wait."

Her strength returned to her in a sudden unexpected flood of energy. Kagome allowed it to circle through her veins, the life and strength breathing back into her. She knew that it wasn't natural, but she wasn't about to argue with whatever fate had done to return the power to her muscles. She stood slowly, her legs working easily this time. Her balance had returned, but her cuts and fingernails still burned, and she knew that she needed clothes, but there was none to be found in the empty room. She found another set of stairs and discovered that she was in another cellar, above the one she had originally come from. She walked up the smooth stairs easily and pushed aside the heavy cellar doors. And entered a hallway that was only filled with a deadly silence. There were no pictures, or couches, tables or vases. Just a long, empty hallway with a series of doors running along all the walls.

"Please somebody help me." She said quietly to herself. "I don't know where I am. I don't know where to go or what to do… and I'm naked… and cold." Suddenly she realized that she was weakening. "Stop it." She ordered, shaking her head to herself. "That's not going to help." She kneeled down on the floor and shut the cellar door , holding onto the little iron handles and making sure that it was tightly closed and locked. As she stood she shuddered, the cold air seemed to brush against her bare stomach, raising goose bumps on her pale skin. She suddenly noticed, how extremely pale her skin was. Unnaturally pale, as if she were dead, or as if she had never been in the light before.

"Ok," She said, to herself, taking a deep breath for calm and wrapping her arms around her bare breasts for warmth and protection. She felt extremely self-conscious walking around what was obviously some sort of mansion or castle without any clothes on. But she had no choice. Keeping her shoulders shrugged against the cold, she made her way down the smooth wooden floors, her feet were silent. She wandered for hours in the cold hallways. Calling, "hello" and opening every other door hesitantly, feeling like she was an intruder. "Please, someone," She said quietly. "Is anyone here?" Maybe she was in an abandoned castle. She thought to herself when her feet began to ache from walking for so long. Maybe something had scared everyone away… the thing in the lower cellar suddenly pierced into her mind and she frantically shoved it away. She couldn't think about things like that. Now she just needed to find someone. Anyone.

"Hello," She called tiredly, swearing that she had walked past the same door at least twelve times before. Then, she heard something. Someone had begun to play something. She stopped and her heart began to race. If something was playing, then it meant that someone was playing it. Unless it was a speaker or a CD player or a TV. But at least that showed that there was a chance of someone being there. She strained her ears hard to try and follow the sound. After fifteen minutes she was able to decide that it was definitely getting louder. After twenty minutes she could tell that it was something like a shamisen, and she knew that that meant that someone was playing and that meant that she had found help.

She followed the sound to a room, "hello"? She called from outside the door, hunching her shoulders and doing her best to cover herself. "Hello?" Abruptly the music stopped and she waited in what seemed to be an eternity of silence before the figure's shadow could be seen from the other side of the rice-paper-door. It was a tall and healthy looking figure, but whoever it belonged to moved with at an agonizing pace. Slowly the door slid open to reveal a young man a little over a head taller than her, with dark red hair and clear blue eyes, which widened when he saw her standing naked in front of him. The weathered shamisen in his hand dropped along with his jaw. The sound of it crashing to the ground made her cringe.

"I'm sorry." She said quickly, realizing that she was still shaking a bit, and her voice was quiet and weak sounding. "But… I don't know where I am."

The young man looked to be about 20 or so, and he couldn't seem to stop staring at her, shocked.

"I'm sorry, I… I look like such a mess…" She said quietly, looking down at the floor in shame, her cheeks reddening. "But… could I borrow some clothes or something?"

Suddenly the young man seemed to snap into action. "Oh, oh umm… of course," he said, still slightly bewildered, his voice was strong and smooth. "Um… of… of course you can." He darted back into the room, leaving her standing there, alone outside of the door. He came back flustered, a blue kimono that looked as if it had belonged to him in his hands. He wrapped it around her shoulders hastily and left her to pull the oversized cloth around her body, ignoring the bite as the silken fabric brushed against her cuts. She could feel his eyes on her the whole time.

"Are you ok?" He asked after a while.

"Um, yeah," She said. "I'm ok… I just… I'm not really sure how I got here, or where I am." She realized that someone who didn't know where they were or how they had gotten there was not someone who would be considered "ok".

"Oh God," the man said quietly. "I'm sorry. You must have been through something terrible." He said, she noticed him studying her bloody fingernails and he probably had seen the cut on her face and the others all over her body.

"I woke up in your cellar." She said dumbly.

The young man raised his eyebrow. "In our cellar?"

"Well, actually, it was the room bellow your cellar." She said.

The man frowned. "I don't think we have room below the cellar."

Kagome was quiet. They definitely _did _have a room below the cellar. She knew it for a fact. In fact, it was the only thing she was absolutely sure of. But she wasn't about to argue with him about it.

"Well that doesn't matter." He said suddenly. "Let me take you to my father." He said. "He'll help you, I promise." He said, stepping out of the room.

"Thank you." She said quietly, falling into step behind him.

He made it about five paces before turning around and looking at her. "Oh, I'm Tetsuya by the way." He paused and looked at her, as if trying to remember something. "What did you say your name was again?"

Kagome opened her mouth to tell him but was stopped by a dull feeling that began to sink into her head, followed by terrified realization and shock. "I…" She said slowly, feeling the tears start to well up in her eyes. She choked on her words, struggling before finally forcing herself to speak. "I don't know."

* * *

A/N: BUM BUM BUM! anyway do you think that this story is going down hill? Or do you think its ok? I don't really know anymore. Hey here's a thought! You could always tell me in a review:P XOX nanirain. if u say u still like it ill try to get the next chap up as soon as i can, though it might be around like Sunday or Monday (First week of May, 2005)

Thanx guys!

* * *


	6. My Father

* * *

A/N: Hey guys. Sorry about this whole delay thing. I know the first six chappies all came up like in a day and then this one was totally delayed but my friend had her birthday party all weekend and we're just starting to study for finals and crap like that so i'm a bit busy. I don't have that much time on my hands anymore. Heh heh heh... And i was also kind of waiting for reviews, but i guess that's not goint to happen. I LUV ALL YALL WHO DID REVIEW:)!\

SPECIAL SPECIAL SPECIAL SPECIAL SPEEEECIAL THANKS TO:(!)

Isisoftheunderground: Thank you so much... that really does make me happy.

Squabbit: Uh.. thanks i think? Suggestions on improvement are ALWAYS welcome. heh and i luv ur name. its cute.

Taeniaea: Thank you Thank you Thank you! (Makes big cookie eyes at you) thats so awsome. I luv you! (yea, im a bit emotoinal over my story... heh heh heh).

Anyway, next chapter comming soon(ish) i promise to the few of you who are actually reading my story! make sure to tell me if its starting to go bad ok? ok.

XOX nanirain

* * *

He made it about five paces before turning around and looking at her. "Oh, I'm Tetsuya by the way." He paused and looked at her, as if trying to remember something. "What did you say your name was again?"

Kagome opened her mouth to tell him but was stopped by a dull feeling that began to sink into her head, followed by terrified realization and shock. "I…" She said slowly, feeling the tears start to well up in her eyes. She choked on her words, struggling before finally forcing herself to speak. "I don't know."

Tetsuya blinked and looked at her, obviously surprised at her response. But soon his blue eyes showed that he believed she wasn't lying. His expression changed to pity, and it was so upsetting that it drove Kagome to shed her first tear.

She followed Tetsuya down a series of long halls, all the while trying to bit back her tears and fight away the horrible hollow feeling in her chest. It hadn't taken her very long before she realized that she didn't remember anything at all before waking up in the under-cellar room. She could remember wandering around the empty halls, meeting Tetsuya, hearing him playing the shamisen, escaping from that horrible room, and waking up encased in some sort of solid… before that… there was… nothing. The only thing she met was her fear and frustration of not being able to remember. It was as if there was a large brick wall somewhere in her brain that prevented her from looking back into her life. She knew she hadn't lost her memories, and knew that they were just beyond that wall. She could feel them. But she couldn't find them.

Tetsuya finally broke the silence. "So do you know where you're from?" he asked gently. "You look native."

She nodded, in reality not having a clue whether she looked native or not. She couldn't remember what she looked like either. All she could seem to make out from examining herself without a mirror was she was unnaturally pale and her hair was long and black.

"What's native?" She asked after a bit. "Where am I?"

Tetsuya gave her that look again, that pitying look. She wished he would stop. Whenever he looked at her like that she felt like breaking down and crying. "You're in Japan."

"Oh." She said, feeling slow and dumb. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

That put them back into another awkward silence that neither of them seemed to know how to break. They traveled that way for a long time, in silence, and the hallways were long and bare. They seemed to stretch into an eternity without change or variation. Kagome wondered how Tetsuya kept himself from getting lost, when everything looked the same. Eventually, she felt her legs weakening and her mental will lessening steadily. All she wanted to do was sit down and rest for a while. That was all. But she didn't have the nerve to ask Tetsuya for some reason, so she continued to follow him silently. Finally he seemed to realize that something was bothering her.

"Are you alright?" The older mans' face was kind and concerned, and strangely handsome as he stared down at her. "Do you need to rest for a while?"

She was about to admit that she was exhausted when she noticed the way he was looking at her. His intense blue eyes regarded her as if she were some weakened toddler who was following him around because she was lost and incompetent. She didn't want him to think of her that way. For some reason, that feeling compelled her to go on. She shook her head, smiling at him. "No, I'm fine, thanks. How much further until we find your father?"

"Just a little while…" he said reluctantly, still worried about her, "But you look awful. Are you sure you don't want to sit down for a while?"

Kagome shook her head, a little annoyed at his persistence. She wished he would stop tempting her like that. "I feel fine." She said with a bit more force.

Tetsuya's face hardened, apparently he was getting more and more determined. "Well you don't look fine." He said, with an air of determination. "Here, let me go get you a cushion from the next room and you can rest for a while."

Kagome didn't argue this time. Instead she watched as Tetsuya left her and entered a room down the hallway. He returned soon with a blue satin pillow and placed it in the ground on the hallway. Kagome smiled as sweetly as she could at him.

"Really, its fine." She said. "I would like to keep moving." It was true. Now that the option of resting had been presented to her, she couldn't stand the thought of sitting still. She knew that if she stopped moving, everything that had happened to her would sink in. She would realize that she was in a hopeless situation, and that everything had gone wrong. And then she would weaken. If she sat down and rested, she felt as if she would never have the strength to make herself stand up again.

Tetsuya sighed and tossed his auburn hair out of his face with a sideways nod of his head. "Very well, then." He said, picking up the pillow and carrying it with him down the hall. Kagome could tell that he was keeping it in case he thought she needed to rest again. He kept the pillow locked against his chest, as if he were worried that someone was going to show up and take it from him. His knuckles were white against the bright blue satin. As Kagome walked, she continued to try and remember something… anything… but the more and more she tried, the weaker and weaker she felt. It was as if trying to remember was sapping the energy from her. She felt sick and dizzy, but she needed to keep trying. She needed to remember something.

"This is ridiculous." Tetsuya's strong, smooth voice broke her concentration. She looked up to see Tetsuya watching her with frustrated blue eyes.

"You're so stubborn! You're going to walk yourself dead!" With that, the young man scooped a startled Kagome up off the floor into his arms, and proceeded to carry her bridal style down the hall. The pillow pressing against her back.

Kagome blushed furiously, feeling her stomach squirm with embarrassment. "No, Tetsuya, really. Thank you, but-"

"No." Tetsuya said, his eyes locked firmly ahead. "I won't hear of it. You've obviously been through something terrible, and you deserve a rest. Now stay still and relax while I take you to father. We don't have that much further to travel."

Kagome gave in, her sore feet throbbing and her head spinning. But as she lay there, in Tetsuya's arms, she started thinking. That was a mistake. She suddenly felt so weak and vulnerable and stupid. Something had gone really wrong, and she was in such a helpless position, being carried bridal style around a huge, cold mansion by some man she didn't know. She didn't know anything, couldn't remember anything, couldn't find any of the memories that she was desperately struggling to get to, didn't know who she was even, or what she looked like. How had all of this happened? Soon, Kagome was sobbing into Tetsuya's kimono.

The older man was baffled at first, so he just let her cry in his arms while he watched her. "It's going to be alright." He said finally, to the sobbing girl in his arms. "You'll see. My father's a really nice man. He'll be able to help you out. Everything will be fine. There's no way anyone could throw a girl like you out into the streets."

Kagome sniffled and lay limply in Tetsuya's arms, her hand clutching his shoulder, her face buried into his chest, as she listened to the rhythm of his softly-falling feet. Soon, he came to a stop.

"We're here."

In some small way, Kagome was disappointed. She had finally felt comfortable, for the first time since she woke up in the cellar. She had found a bit of peace and protection in Tetsuya's strong arms. They were like protective barriers wrapped around her and ensuring her that she would be safe. A few minutes ago, she had been mortified by the thought of him holding her in his arms, but now she would have given anything to stay there for just a little bit longer.

"Let me stop crying first." She mumbled as she was set down onto her sore feet again. "I don't want to show up blubbering like an idiot." She used the heel of her hand, which was smooth and soft, to wipe away her stinging tears. "Sorry." She muttered.

"Why?"

"I totally broke down back there." She said quietly. "I didn't mean to get your kimono wet."

"That's what you're worried about?" Kagome looked up, slightly afraid that he would be giving her that pitying look again. The one she couldn't stand. But instead, she met a warm smile and beautiful blue eyes. "You've been through hell and back again, you don't remember who you are or where you're from, and you're worried that you got my kimono wet?" He half laughed at her childishness, making Kagome smile.

When he was done his eyes were sparkling. "Whoever you are, you must be a great woman."

Kagome blushed, her heart pounding. "Thank you."

"Come on," he said, putting his hand casually on her shoulder, making her feel relaxed. "Let's go see Father."

Her relaxation vanished. Suddenly she was very nervous, and incredibly afraid. "Are you sure he'll be ok with this?" She asked tentatively, brushing her hair behind her ear and looking up at Tetsuya meekly.

"He'll be fine, I promise." There was so much confidence in Tetsuya's voice that she couldn't help but believe him. It was clear from the small smile on Tetsuya's face, and the gleam in his blue eyes that he looked up to his father a great deal. But still, she was so nervous that her stomach could have dropped out onto the floor. She wished she didn't have to meet the Lord of the castle. She wished she could just stay with Tetsuya. That would have been nice.

Tetsuya led her through a doorway to a shuddered curtain that was plain and brown. It hung from the ceiling, and acted as a sort of shield, one that only allowed you to see vague shadowy figures on the other side. Kagome tried to peer through it to make out the Lord, but could not determine which shapes were furniture and which would belong to a human. The light was dim and thick, the air cold and thin. For someone who was supposed to be such a pleasant man, he lived in a very unpleasant room.

"My Lord, and father," Tetsuya called to the curtain. "There is someone here who I want you to meet." He said, glancing down at Kagome and smiling at her. She smiled back as well as sshe could, but her heart was so busy pounding in her chest that she had trouble focusing on anything else.

"Come in, Tetsuya." Came a deep, pensive voice. Kagome shivered when she heard it. There was something about that voice that seemed… strange.

With one last reassuring smile at the girl beneath him, Tetsuya, keeping his arm firmly around Kagome's shoulder, pushed back the brown shuddered curtain, and Kagome came face to face with a man. He was pale, and lean, his thick black hair was pulled up into a high pony-tail, most likely for convenience. He had milky slate blue eyes that widened in shock when he saw her. Kagome suddenly felt the urge to go running out of the room. There was something about this man.

"This is my father." Tetsuya said proudly, gazing at his father with love and admiration. "Naraku."

* * *

A/N: Next chapter comming soonish. I promise. And it would be so nice if you reviewed... it really would. (Hint hint, wink wink, saynomore, saynomore).

XOX nanirain

* * *


	7. Revenge Seekers

* * *

A/N: Hello, Hello, Hellooooo! alright! I promised that the eighth chapter was comming soon and lo and behold! Here it is! Only like a day after i promised to post i! YEY! Anyway, the thing you should realize about this Chapter, is that it happened a month before the rest of the story (yes i meant to write it that way, its like a flashback thingy, sort of ... kind of... yeah). This is about a month before Kagome actually wakes up. (Dont worry, next chapter will go back to where we were at the end of the Seventh Chapter). So don't freak out on me or anything, i hate it when people do that.

TO MY REVIERS WHOM I LOVE MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD:

Taeniaea: YEY that makes me really really happy! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I can count on you for every chapter! 0 hooray!

Isisoftheunderground: Thank you sooooo much! its really is seriouslyimportant to me that you think that. I'm glad that you appreciateall this hard work. Eeek! Hugs for you!

Gothic Ember: ooo! New reviewer! Yey! Thank you so much! Lemme know what you think of the new Chapter plz!

and last but not least...

I-LOVE-VEGETA: lol. Thank you! thats kind of exactly what i was aiming for. . ur review had me giggling for five minutes straight. (yeah, so im a hyper kid). AND I LOVE VEGETA TOO!>o awsome!

Disclaimer: I own Tetsuya. That's about it. But he's not in chis chapter soit doesn't matter. Oh and i also own the littlegirl who offers the hat. Yeah, she's mine, but i think she'll bea one-time-apperance type of thing... or maybe not.Here's Chapter Eight for you.

* * *

Chapter Eight: Revenge Seekers: 

(A month before Kagome woke up in Naraku's under-cellar room…)

The gentle gray rain fell steadily, just as it had been doing for the entire day before. The air in the valley's village was thin and cold and the light was a sort of watercolor gray. They had stayed overnight to keep themselves dry… but one of them had been awake and outside since before sunup, and he had been wet for hours on end…

When Miroku opened his violet eyes, Inuyasha was not there. The room was silent, save for the sound of the pattering of rainfall on the mud-roof. There was a fresh-feeling chill that pressed up against his shoulders as he moved the thin white blanket off of himself and sat up. It was dim, so he couldn't tell exactly what time it was, but Miroku had always been an early riser. He stood up and stretched, letting out a little groan, before bending down to the floor to fold up his bed, and store it in the corner of the small room. He noticed that the thin, white sheets had already turned cold beneath his hands.

Cautiously, he approached the foldout wall that divided the room into two halves. It was decorated with light pink cherry blossom trees and bright, orange goldfish with bulging eyes and fanning tails. "Sango?" He called, trying to gently wake the girl on the other side of the room. But only the rain and silence answered him. He sighed tiredly; it was more than likely that he was going to be leaving this house with a rather large red mark somewhere on his face. "Sango?" He tried one more time before pushing back the divider and entering the girl's side of the room.

Sango stirred a bit as the divider scrapped against the wooden floor. Frowning, she turned her face towards him, a few wisps of hair falling over her closed eyes. Kilala nuzzled against her neck affectionately and she almost smiled in her sleep. Miroku was about to call out her name, but, against his better judgment, he stopped to watch her; he was unable to help himself.

He took in everything. The way her long dark hair fell around her face and pooled on her shoulders. The way her delicate lips were parted ever so slightly in her sleep, and the steady rise and fall of her chest beneath the blanket. She looked so peaceful and beautiful, lying there in the gray light. She almost seemed to glow.

Miroku made his walked towards her silently and crouched down beside her, gently brushing away the stray tress of hair so he could see her face perfectly. He smiled a little at the touch of her smooth, white skin beneath his fingertips. She was so beautiful…

Miroku was sure that the whole household had heard the SLAP of Sango's hand connecting mercilessly with the side of his face, and would be coming in soon to see if everything was ok. Miroku sighed and pulled his hand away. A typical morning…

"Good morning, Houshi." Sango said crisply as she sat up and glared at him with her dark brown eyes. "What have you been up to?"

Miroku winced as he rubbed his stinging, crimson cheek. "For once, Sango, I was not-"

"Don't start." Sango said tiredly, as she pushed the blanket off of her body and stretched in the cold morning air. "It's way to early for your pathetic excuses..."

Miroku gave up and stood with a sigh, his hand still over his cheek. It was no use.

Sango sleepily opened her eyes to examine the small, scarcely decorated room before turning back to him with those steady, liquid brown eyes. "Where's Inuyasha?"

Miroku sighed, yet again, and rubbed his eye with the heel of his palm. "It seems he has gone once again…" He muttered tiredly.

Sango frowned a little as she looked at the curtain that led to the outdoors, as if she could see to the other side. She took a while to listen to the rain before speaking. "I'm worried about him, Hoshi." She said quietly. "Lately he's been doing this more and more…"

Miroku frowned. "Indeed…" he said quietly, his pitch-black hair falling into his violet eyes as he studied the floor. "Indeed he has."

Inuyasha had been in the rain for hours. What had started out as a cold chill on his skin had now turned into a stinging numbness. The steady rainfall had soaked his silvery hair to the scalp, while his blood-red kimono clung to his arms, chest and legs in wrinkly folds. His hands were cold and numb as they grasped the hilt of the Tetsuigia, his fingers wrapped tightly around the wrapped cloth. His knuckles were whitening as he held the blade directly out in front of him with both hands. His milk-white ears were pushed downwards, to keep stinging raindrops out, and his golden eyes were narrowed and cutting as he glared at the tree.

Letting out a grunt, the hanyou swung the blade around and sliced the massive tree trunk in half. It had been a huge tree, so big that it would have taken all of himself, Sango, Miroku and two other people to wrap their arms around its trunk, while holding each other's hands. The Tetsuigia's massive blade sliced it down as if it were a toothpick. As the tree began to fall, its dark green leaves fluttering desperately, the half-demon launched himself gracefully into the gray-morning air. The tree would crush him to the ground in a matter of seconds. Expertly, he raised the gleaming blade above his head. His eyes still harsh and piercing as he calculated the distance… it only took half a second. "WIND SCAR!"

His voice echoed through the entire forest, sending little dark-feathered birds flying in all different directions, out from under their leafy shelters, and into the rain. The tree was sliced neatly in half, and Inuyasha landed again on the ground, untouched, a half of the tree on either side of him, wallowing in the cold mud. The exhausted hanyou shoved his sword into the ground and kneeled in an icy puddle. He didn't care about the cold. He was already soaked to the bone. He was breathing hard and his heart was beating so quickly that he could feel it throbbing in his head. The air that he breathed was searing his lungs, and yet he continued to gasp it down, his shoulders heaving as he did so. He had been awake and training since 1:30 a.m. and in the gray dawn had been chopping down the largest trees he could find for five hours straight. Taking a final breath of air, he pushed himself up to his feet. It wasn't good enough. He had to get stronger.

He found the next tree, which was roughly the same size as the last, and took his stance again, locking his sword into position with a metal click. It had been a little less than a year… since Naraku had taken Kagome away from him… her face suddenly flashed into his mind, just as the day that she had left him. She was lifting her head up to look at him, just like she had the last time he saw her. Her beautiful face was streaked with dirt and tears, and her skin was a sickly pale color, her soft brown eyes were pleading... hoping that he would save her…

Inuyasha shook his head, trying to rid the image from his mind. Almost a year later and he was still furious. "Dammit!" He said maliciously to no one, as he drove the Tetsuigia into the trunk of the tree. It stuck firmly, and with his rage to help him, he brought the blade upwards, slicing the trunk of the tree in half. With a deafening crack, the tree split in two, each half falling in opposite directions, and crashing into the mud with a splash. Some of the water droplets landed on his face, but he barely flinched as he examined the remains of the giant oak tree. The inner wood was splintered and a light yellow color. He watched as the little bubbles of sap started to rise from the torn wood, their sweet and bitter scent playing at the edges of his nose. The roots of the tree were still firmly planted in the ground. Inuyasha studied his handiwork critically. It still wasn't good enough. He set his sword into the ground and leaned on the hilt, his head bent down and away from the rain. All he could hear was his breathing. All he could see was Kagome's face… "Stop it!" He told himself, angrily, his eyes closing tightly. "Stop _thinking _about her!"

His ears picked up the sound of a twig snapping. The silver dog-ears twitched and swiveled towards the noise, but he never lifted his head. He inhaled deeply. All he could smell was the sap from the fallen tree, the rainwater, mixing in with the silt from the forest floor, the mud resting beneath the puddles, the smell of damp wood, and… a girl. He lifted his head and looked at her out of the corner of his eye. It was a little girl, no more than seven. Her hair was cut short and fell around her chin in a straight, even line. Her head was covered with a large straw hat that she held on her head for protection against the rain. She looked up and out from underneath its rim to look at him with coppery-green eyes. "Hey Mr.," She said, her voice was young and sweet sounding.

"What?" His, on the other hand, was sharp and annoyed. It had rarely ever sounded happy or kind since… 'Stop _thinking_ about it!' He told himself for the thousandth time, flinching visibly. If only he could stop thinking about it…

"Why are you standing out here, alone?"

Her words shot right through his chest and knocked the breath out of him. '_Why am I alone…_'

"Are you sad about something?" Her concern for him was obvious and unhidden.

'_Yes_.' He couldn't bring himself to reply.

She watched him with her large coppery-green eyes. "It's raining you know… you might catch a cold or something." The little girl hesitated for a while before continuing. "Mr., are you sure you're alright?"

'_No…I'm not …_'he thought to himself, without once looking at her. '_I'm dying_… _I've been dying this whole time… without her._'

"Do you want my hat?" The girl pulled him back into reality. "It'll keep you dry." She said, taking off her straw hat and holding it out to him. She closed one of her eyes against the rain and held her little arm over her head, trying her best to keep from getting wet.

Inuyasha finally turned to look at the hat she was holding out for him, it was damp, and the sweet-smelling straw had turned several shades darker than it should have been from the rain. But she was still offering it to him. He followed her arm up to her face. She was cute... but still, he glared at her. "Do I know you, kid?"

The little girl was taken aback, and he instantly regretted what he had said. But he didn't apologize. He was always doing that… making people sad…

"No." she said quietly, holding the hat to her chest and crossing her arms over it protectively. "But I just thought… that you looked lonely."

'_I am lonely._' "Don't be such a nosey brat! Keep your hat and get back inside out of the rain!" He said, picking up the sword and starting his training again. But she didn't move. He waited for her to turn around and leave him alone. But she didn't. He felt the annoyance bubble up inside of him. "Didn't you _hear_ me, kid?" he turned around, sounding more and more aggravated. "I said, 'Beat it'!"

"Well…" the little girl said slowly, brushing her raven hair behind her ear, only to have it fall back into place again. "I think those people over there are waiting for you."

Inuyasha stopped and looked to where the little girl was pointing. Sure enough, a monk and a slayer were standing on the side of a puddle-filled road, watching him with serious brown and violet eyes. Inuyasha stared back at them for a long time, before grunting and sheathing his sword at his waist, letting his hands linger on the handle before slipping them over the woven cloth and letting them fall to his sides. "Thanks." He muttered.

The little girl smiled at him, and he walked past her without giving her a second glance. She reminded him too much of her…

"How did training go?" Miroku asked as Inuyasha approached. He could see the worry in both of his friends' eyes, and for some reason, that pissed him off.

"Fine." Inuyasha said roughly in reply, starting down the road, and trying to ignore the looks that he could feel them giving him.

"Inuyasha,"

He turned around to meet Sango's eyes, worry and concerned apparent over her entire face. He could smell it radiating off of both of them like heat. He also felt the inexplicable urge to slap both of them. How long would continue to worry about him then?

"Here," Sango said, offering him a large straw hat, to keep the rain away, just like the little girl from before.

Inuyasha stared at it for a bit before scoffing and turning his head away from it. "Keep it." He grumbled.

"Inuyasha-" Sango started, protesting.

"I said _keep it_.' He drawled, a bit of a growl rising in his throat. Sango sighed and she let her hand drop to her side, still holding its brim loosely by her fingertips.

They walked down the wet road for a long time in silence, listening to the rain slap against the dirt and pebbles, and rush along the ditches in small, rapid streams. All the while the rain fell relentlessly on Inuyasha. The icy drops of water streamed down his face and his back, soaking his sticking clothes through to his cold skin, and he ignored it. Just like he ignored the way the sand and mud from the road sucked at his bare feet and left his toes numb and aching red. In some way, the sharp cold distracted him from thinking about things that he didn't want to think about. He was almost glad for it.

Finally Miroku cleared his throat and began to speak. "Inuyasha…"

Inuyasha could tell by the tone of Miroku's voice, what the monk was about to say to him. "Don't even start with it, Miroku." He warned. "I don't want to hear it."

There was a long silence before Miroku replied. "I'm afraid you may need to hear it."

"Don't."

"I'll only say it once."

"No."

"She wouldn't want you to be doing this to yourself." The other man said forcefully and gently at the same time. It was annoying, how easily he made everything come across just the way he wanted it too. It was so very annoying…

"Shut up!" Inuyasha snapped in reply. "I told you I don't want to hear it!"

"It's true." The monk said, ignoring him. "We're only worried about you."

Snarling, Inuyasha rounded on Miroku and practically knocked him down into the dirt. It took all of his willpower to keep himself from becoming violent. "And what about her!" The hanyou demanded angrily, the rain and the cold still spreading down his limbs. "Why don't you think about _her_ for once!"

"Inuyasha, we do think about her!" Sango said, jumping to defend Miroku, trying to sound understanding, when she didn't understand anything at all…

"Then why weren't you _with_ me this morning!" Inuyasha's voice was rising in anger. "You two _disgust_ me! Acting as if nothing's changed, when in reality _everything _has! Kagome is dead! And you've both _forgotten_ about her!"

"Inuyasha," Miroku started, his voice also becoming angry, "you know we haven't forgotten about her. We keep her -"

"Don't start spewing that philosophical bullshit at me!" Inuyasha roared. "Because I don't give a _damn _about any of it!" He was up in Miroku's face now, the monk's violet eyes stared back at him with a strange, calm anger that only he seemed capable of. "All I want is Kagome's revenge." Inuyasha said, his voice low and dangerous. "That's _all _I care about."

"I know, Inuyasha." Miroku said, keeping his eyes locked with the angry hanyou's. "That's why I worry about you."

Later that night, Inuyasha was the first to fall asleep. For once, all of his vigorous training had exhausted him to the point of being able to slip into a restless slumber. Miroku watched his friend as he added another log to the fire. It had been a hard one to start, seeing as how everything was wet from the day-long shower, but eventually the three of them were able to light a campfire. They could have been quick about it, and used Kagome's "matches", but they never opened her bag anymore. Instead it dangled from Kilala's neck whenever they traveled. It was their reminder of what they had lost. It was too strange and too painful for all of them, to use a dead loved one's tools. It had been especially hard for Inuyasha. So they did things the old-fashioned way, as if they had never heard of "matches", or "flashlights", or "Ramen".

The snakeheads were charred and gruesome, leering at him through the fire from their stakes. He still remembered the way Kagome had shrieked when she first realized that they expected her to eat snakes and rats when they couldn't catch a fish or a pig. _'Ew! Totally, gross!'_ The fifteen year old's voice was still clear in his head. _'You guys aren't **really** going to eat that are you!'_

Miroku allowed himself to smile in her memory. It was so rare, that anybody smiled when they thought of Kagome, because of how they lost her, even though she deserved so much better… Kagome would have wanted them to remember her in happiness… she _deserved _to be remembered in happiness… It was so hard for Inuyasha to understand that…

The young monk studied his surroundings carefully, the forest was dark and thick, the leafy trees stood erect and seemed to stretch into the sky for an eternity. Vines and ferns sprouted all over the place in a tangled mess, and wild fruits hung from nearby branches. A little family of speckled mushrooms were looking up at him from underneath a rock, and an owl was calling from somewhere in the dark mass of branches and leaves…

Eventually, Miroku's wandering eyes fell on Inuyasha. The hanyou's face seemed strangely angry and restless even when he was sleeping. The firelight shed strange patches of golden light over his face and lit his silver hair with an orange gloss. Miroku felt a wave of pity for his friend. He wondered if Inuyasha would ever be able to accept the death of Kagome…

"I want it too, you know." A female voice said suddenly, startling him out of his thoughts.

"Sango!" He said, surprised. "I didn't realize that you were still awake."

Sango rose up from the ground, and pushed herself up right so that she was facing the fire with Miroku. She bent up her knees from beneath her blanket, and rested her chin on her kneecaps. Her soft figure was illuminated with a gentle mixture of moon and firelight, making her seem thoughtful, and beautiful… and sad. He hated it when she looked that way. "I couldn't sleep." She said tiredly as she tilted her head to the side, letting her hair fall over her shoulders. "I can almost never sleep anymore."

Miroku did not know how to reply. So he didn't.

"I want it," Sango said, glancing at Inuyasha, "almost as badly as he does."

"Revenge." Miroku said, making Sango stare silently into the flame.

"Yes."

Miroku sighed, leaning against the damp tree trunk behind him. Its bark rubbed against his back, before he could settle into a comfortable position. "Revenge… it is a treacherous thing…"

Sango turned away from the fire, only to watch the way its golden light played over Miroku's handsome face. "What do you mean?"

Miroku's violet eyes wandered through the endless ocean of stars above him, before coming back down to Earth and resting on the two gruesome snakeheads, sitting impaled in the fire's core, roasting with gaping jaws and deadly fangs. "Look at those two snakes, in the fire." He said finally. "One of them was the other's mate."

Sango stared blankly at the fire. "How do you know that?"

"When a snake dies," Miroku said, still staring at the roasting heads. "And it does not return, the mate goes out looking for it. When it finds it, it wraps itself around the body of the dead one."

Sango frowned, slightly disturbed.

"Then the live snake tries to kill whatever killed its mate, by striking anything that passes it by. Revenge was ultimately what led to the second snake's demise, as I was what killed her mate, and it turned out that I was also perfectly capable of killing her a well."

Sango was silent for a long time. "I don't understand what you're trying to say."

Miroku nodded, as if he had expected her to be confused. She watched him carefully as he crossed his legs and let his golden staff fall a little to the side. He often held it loosely in his large, strong hands. "Revenge, while it often may drive a person to the ends of the Earth, is also known to be consuming. As time drags on, it turns into an obsession, and it can, at times, become true that the person is no longer acting for the sake of whomever he or she has lost, but just for the sake of being vengeful… because revenge is the only thing that drives them on. They lose their soul to their hate for whomever did them a wrong, and it is replaced with an unshakable bitterness. They're revenge transforms them into a soulless, hateful being… someone who can't even spare the time, to enjoy the rest of their life…"

Sango thought for a while, studying the snakeheads before saying with a cold determination. "I will not become such a person."

Miroku was silent for a long time, listening to the crickets chirping in the distance, and watching Sango as she stared into the fire before finally saying, "I fear, Sango, that you and Inuyasha are already well on your way."

* * *

A/N: Oh, gee, that's was nice ofMiroku wasn't it? And by the way, if any of you can prove that snakes don't actually do that, then be my guest. I just readthat they doin Huckleberry Fin. So I'm totally going with Mark Twain's word on this one ok?

REVIEWERS ROCK! (and remember, its ok to tell me that i stuck at this: Flames and all that good stuff are welcome,ok? ok.)

XOX Nanirain

* * *


	8. In a Stranger's Arms

* * *

Disclaimer: I only own Tetsuya, and the littlegirl (from chapter 8)who offers Inuyasha a hat (she will have a name later)

A/N: OK! well... this one took me a bit... im not really sure why. WARNING: SOME OF YOU (if not all of you) WILL BE VERY CONFUSED BY THIS CHAPTER. IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON, THEN READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE. THANKYOU. I will also have my little reviewers corner at the bottom of the page. (You guys made me so happy! 0). Anyway, the only other thing i should put is that we have fast forwarded from Inuyasha's group and gone back to the present (or where the story was after the end of chapter 7) Alright! See you on the other side!

* * *

"Sayuri." The man's voice was like a whisper of wind rustling through summer leaves, barely audible. Tetsuya apparently hadn't heard him at all.

"Father," he said, a sense of formality and seriousness in his tone. "This girl needs help. She doesn't remember anything about who she is or where she's from, and she claims to have woken up somewhere in our house. I told her that you would help her."

Neither of the two other people in the room appeared to be listening to the young red-haired man. They were too busy staring at each other. Kagome shivered, unable to look away from the man's slate blue eyes, they locked her body into stillness, and she found that she was almost as afraid of him as whatever had been below the cellar in the room that she had awoken in. There was a chilling presence that radiated off of him in waves. She decided that she didn't like him.

"Father?"

Tetsuya's father snapped out of his trance and looked at his son in utter amazement. "Tetsuya…" he said, his voice a little louder than when he had called out before.

"Yes, father?" The young man replied, a hint of concern in his voice. He had finally realized that something was wrong. "What is it?"

"Do you know who this is?" Naraku asked, his voice was quiet and low.

Tetsuya blinked and looked down at Kagome, who was unable to say or do anything about the situation. She was just as confused as Tetsuya was, if not more so. Looking up at him, she opened her mouth to try to explain, but she realized that she couldn't.

"The woman standing there beside you…" Naraku said, his eyes moving away from his son and fixating back to her. She wished he would look away. She felt so much more comfortable when he wasn't looking at her. "That woman… is Sayuri."

Tetsuya tensed. His arm, which had rested so comfortably over Kagome's shoulder became as hard and heavy as rock in a matter of seconds.

"What?" Kagome asked, her voice was small with anxiety. "What's going on?" Slowly Tetsuya looked down at her, and she was startled to see that his copper-green eyes were no longer gentle and helpful, but wide and astonished.

"S-Sayuri?" He asked her, his strong and gentle voice was now as weak as his father's whisper. "_You're_ Sayuri?"

Kagome shook her head, trying to vain to swallow the lump in her throat. She replied honestly, "I don't know." Tetsuya's arm dropped from her shoulders, as if he had suddenly realized that he was touching something disgusting. She wished he had left it there. She suddenly felt cold and alone without it… helpless again.

"Sayuri," Suddenly the man, Naraku, was towering over her. He was strangely tall and pale, reminding her of a thin white giant. His slate blue eyes were fixed on her with an unnerving intensity. "You have returned to me." He whispered, his voice sounding as if it were always coated with some sort of sugary candy. It seemed to vibrate from his throat, all the way down from his chest. It sent shivers down her spine.

Suddenly, his cold, white arms reached around her and pull her tightly to him. He smelled like the mansion, bitter and minty… it made her entire body stiffen up like a board. She was so afraid that she felt sick, although she couldn't explain why. As the stranger continued to hold her closer and closer to him, she became aware of the feeling of his heart beating beneath the blue silken shirt. That only made her feel more uncomfortable. She closed her eyes tightly, wishing he would let go of her, but his lean arms stayed firmly placed around her with surprising force. To her, it felt more as if she were being constricted by a poisonous snake, rather than being held by a man. She never even considered it possible for her to break free of him. Although she wanted to desperately.

"You have returned to me, at last." He whispered into her hair, making her flinch at his cold breath against her skin. "Sayuri… my love."

Kagome's eyes snapped open, and at that she shoved away from him, stumbling backwards as he released her. Tetsuya was there to catch her. "What?" Her voice was shaky, just like her pale hands. "What did you say?"

The man watched her carefully, his eyes examining every inch of her, making her want to hide behind the shuddered curtain to her left. She wished she had never come in here. The strong desire to panic and run seized her beating heart.

"Sayuri," The said slowly as if talking to a frightened animal. He reached out with his long white fingers, but she shied away, seeking protection in Tetsuya, who at this point was supporting all her body weight. Naraku seemed hurt. "Sayuri, do you not recognize me." He asked, reaching forwards and taking a small piece of her dark raven hair in his fingertips. "Do you not know me?"

"Stop it!" She said, wrenching her head back, and causing the hair to slip from his fingers. "I don't know what you're talking about!" She said, turning to bury her face in Tetsuya's chest.

"Father!" Tetsuya was suddenly able to move. His protective arms wrapped around her, and he held her close to him as she gripped at his kimono. "Stop it." Tetsuya's voice was surprisingly firm. "Maybe she _is_ Sayuri, but even if that's so, she doesn't remember anything, and frightening her isn't going to help."

There was a long pause, in which father and son's eyes stayed locked together, their body language initiating an unspoken conflict between the two. Meanwhile Kagome tried her hardest to understand what was going on. Did this man _know_ her? Did this strange man _know_ her? She cringed, unable to stand the thought. She wished she could just make him disappear.

"Very well." Naraku said suddenly with his deep low voice. "Summon Kagura, and have Sayuri taken care of. Afterwards I will talk to her, _alone_."

Tetsuya was silent for a long time, seemingly troubled by something before finally nodding. His arms loosened around Kagome and she opened her eyes. "I will go summon Kagura." Tetsuya said, letting his arms fall completely to the side. Kagome let go of him and moved cautiously around to his side, making sure not to make eye contact with Naraku. She could feel him watching her.

"Summon me for what?"

Kagome jumped a foot in the air, a startled gasp escaping her mouth before she turned around and came face to face with a beautiful woman. She stood a few inches taller than Kagome, with short dark hair that was pulled up high at the back of her head, dark bangs feel into dark, crimson eyes. Her face was beautiful and angry, her cheekbones high and pronounced. A string of three blue beads dangled from each ear, and two feathers of some bird Kagome couldn't recognize had been slipped beneath the clip that held up her ponytail. Her kimono was a dark, gray-blue, white and red, and was slitted up to her thigh, revealing a dangerous amount of pale, white skin. In her graceful, elegant hands was a simple white fan, a red design sweeping over its upper half. Her stance and face declared her attitude. She was beautiful, and she was deadly. Kagome couldn't remember ever seeing anyone like her before. But then again, she couldn't remember much of anything these days.

"Kagura." Naraku said, "Right on time." His voice, Kagome noticed, had taken on a touch of distain, which she sensed was directed at the woman. "You recognize your mistress I presume, Lady Sayuri."

Kagura's hard crimson eyes traveled over Kagome's face and body before returning to Naraku's. "I do." She said curtly, her voice was deep and sultry sounding.

"Take care of her for me. And when you've finished, bring her back; I'll be waiting in the gardens."

"Kagura," Tetsuya said, interrupting his father. The woman's crimson eyes snapped from one man to the other's practically making Kagome jump. Kagura regarded Tetsuya with the same expression she used with his father: silent disgust. "She doesn't remember anything about who she is or what her past was… so… try not to confuse her."

Kagura seemed unfazed by this warning, her eyes remained calm, cold and cruel. "Anything else?" She asked, a hint of something nasty in her voice.

"Yes." Naraku said, his voice slithered into the silence. "Give her something nice to wear."

Kagura nodded, Kagome thought more out of having to, than of respect. "Very well." She said, turning to Kagome. Kagome didn't know which made her feel more uncomfortable, Kagura's deep crimson eyes, or Naraku's milky, slate-blue ones.

Kagome didn't want to go near her, but at the same time she was dying to get away from Naraku. The only person she felt remotely comfortable with in the room was Tetsuya, and he seemed to be the only person who she would not be allowed to stay with. She didn't want to leave him. She was afraid. The empty room was silent for a long time, all eyes locked onto Kagome, willing her to move. But she was petrified. Finally, the Tetsuya nudged her gently, and looked down at her with a small smile and those gentle green eyes.

"Go on." He said quietly. "It'll be alright, I promise."

She didn't believe him for a second. But she still stepped out from beside his protective shadow and stood directly in front of Kagura. She felt her already-squirming stomach turn to water when the woman glared at her. All she could do was mutter, "Sorry." And stare respectfully at the ground, even though she had done nothing wrong.

* * *

A/N: OK. gulp for those of you who are like, "uh... huh?" let me explain a bit without giving away the story. Kagome has not lost her heart. and she isn't dead (that's for Kanna14 and Ray Venn Hakubi). She was captured by Naraku at the beggining of the story, and Inuyasha and his gang only _think_ that Naraku had killed her, when in reality he had in a sort of suspended animation inside a big block of amber in the room beneath his cellar. The girl in the story IS Kagome, her name is NOTSayuri, that is just what Naraku is pretending her name is. In case you haven't figured it out by now, Kagome can't remember anything, and so Naraku is taking advantage of that and he is about to tell lots of lies to her to try to get her on his side, the most recent being that her name is "Sayuri". If you still don't understand, things will be a lot clearer in the next chapter. Sorry about this, guys. I hope this has helped y'all.

Review corner:

**SilverStarWing**: Um... if everything goes according to plan, they meet in the 12th chapter. (it wont take as long as it sounds, i promise )

**The Squabbit**: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! (phew) i was beggining to think that i had lost you as a reviewer! Yey! So happy your back!

**Kanna14**: I'm so happy that i got a new reviewer! yey! I'll read your fanfic when i can, it sounds like a cool idea. But... umm... Kagome hasn't _really_ died, Inuyasha just thinks she has... sorry if your a Kagome hater... heh heh heh...

**Wind Flow Lady( )**:giggle giggle giggle! Yey! That makes me so happy! I'm so sorry again that i kept on yelling at you guys to review when i had blocked you all, im not very good at computers...thankyou again!

**Isisoftheunderground**: Thankyou again! I love hearing from you! Suspence is over. .

**Ray Venn Hakubi**: oh... heh heh... i guess that would make sense... if she did that (embarassed giggle) can you tell i'm not very good with computers? Anyway thank you so much for your review!No Naraku hasn't taken Kagome's heart... i don't think he _can_ her being all sacred and all... but he has blocked off her memories.

**KIgirls**: you guys... um... i dont know why i said that... you (singluar)... um... what was i going to say THANKYOU! THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU! i luved ur funny review... were you on meds or something?

**Srg1**: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

**DawnY**: thanks! i think i will!

**Taeniaea**: Oh, ok haha... that makes sense, next chapter comming soon

OK! Well! next chapter commin up soon! im promising to try guys... im just an easily distracted person...

* * *


	9. Pretty Lies

* * *

A/N: ok, this one might be a bit long, but hey its the weekend and i feel creative. I'm sorry if this chapter and the last chapter are kind of... i dunno... bad. Sorry (heh) (heh) hit a rough spot. One more chapter till Inuyasha and Kagome meet. BUM BUM BUM! anyway. I know i didnt give too many of you a chance to review the 10th chapter before i posted the 11th but thats ok. i wont hold again yall or nothing.

Disclaimer: I d-d-d-don't own I-I-Inuyaha! Stop reminding me, dammit! Its depressing enough as it is. (runs away sobbing). BUT! On the bright side, i do own Tetsuya and the little hat girl from the chapter with the Inuyasha flashback (10 i think...). She will have a name later on. Anyone who wants to suggest one, just put in your review. Thanks guys!

Factoid: See review corner at bottom. I luv you guys!

* * *

**CHAPTER 11: Pretty Lies**

Kagura watched as Kagome came shyly up to her. "Sorry." The younger girl muttered, her head bowed down as she studied the floor, her long dark hair falling over her face. Kagura felt her distaste for her intensify at the apology. This girl was still too sweet. She snapped her fan against her palm with a single, sudden movement, making Kagome flinch as if she had been slapped.

"Follow me." Kagura said coldly, turning her back on the room and those in it. When they got to the brown, shuddered curtain, Kagura stepped to the side, pulling it clear of the doorframe and allowing Kagome to pass through. The younger girl did so with a bowed head and silent footsteps. Kagura turned to follow, her hand still pining the shudder to the wall.

"Kagura."

She turned and met her master's slate blue eyes. He stared hard at her, all signs of the gentleness he had used with Kagome were gone. She knew what he was doing… he was warning her. His hard blue eyes seemed to whisper to her, _'Don't say anything to betray me…_'

The corner of Kagura's lips turned down in disgust as she held up her head, defiantly. She stared at him, daring him to say something to her. Finally she turned away from him with a soft "hmph", the curtain dropping shut behind her.

They didn't speak at all while Kagura dressed Kagome in the dark, red kimono. Kagome stared at the black marble floor as Kagura hung long strings of gold beads from Kagome's ear lobes and in her long, dark hair. The soft, raven tresses slid easily around the woman's fingers. Kagura had been nothing but kind to her since they had left Naraku's room. She had drawn Kagome a hot bath, and afterwards had washed her cuts with a harsh wet rag, spreading ointments over them with nimble fingertips. And even now, as she was dressing Kagome in the long, red dress, she was being nothing bur polite. But Kagura's hands were quick and cold. Kagome felt no warmth or gentleness from them, and so she never felt comfortable enough to speak… the silence between them was deafening.

As Kagome stood, allowing Kagura's quick, efficient hands dress her with a cold, unfeeling touch, Kagome felt her curiosity start to build. She wondered what she looked like. She waited anxiously as Kagura took the last shimmering strings of gold and clipped them into her hair. Finally she was finished.

Kagura stepped back, her eyes studying the result with critical, crimson eyes. Finally she nodded. "It will have to do." She said. With that she used her closed fan to point to a full-length mirror that stood in front of Kagome, which was covered in a simple, white sheet. Kagome reached out and hesitated, not sure she wanted to know what she looked like, before she finally grasped the cold, silky sheet and tugged gently on it, letting it slide down the smooth, glass surface and then crumple silently on the marble floor.

She stared silently at the girl in front of her. A girl with almond shaped, cocoa eyes set in a delicate, smooth face who looked back at her with an indescribable gentleness. Her long, lean arms hung by her sides, her hands were gracefully arranged with their long, delicate fingers and wide, soft palms. Her dark red dress clung to her hourglass shape, and draped over her small, arched feet. Her soft, raven hair flowed down to her mid-back, and fell into her face where messy bangs had been cut. There was something about her face that was young, and innocent… she was unearthly beautiful.

"Sayuri!"

Kagome jumped as Kagura's shattering voice yanked her out of her trance. She turned to see the Kagura standing impatiently beside her, her weight held on one hip as she opened her fan and held it against her chest, her wrist turned away from herself. Kagome realized that she had been staring at her reflection for a long time. "Sorry." She said, blushing with embarrassment.

Kagura seemingly had to keep herself from rolling her eyes. "Come on," She said, closing her fan and pushing it up her sleeve with her fingertips. "I'll take you to the garden." She said as she turned away from Kagome and started towards the door, expecting her to follow. When she didn't hear Kagome's soft footsteps padding against the dark, marble floor, she turned around to glare at her. "Sayuri - " Kagura blinked when she saw the younger girl looking directly at her for the first time. Kagome was smiling gently, her light brown eyes were kind.

"Kagura." She said, her voice was gentle and soft. "Thank you."

Kagura was left in a state of mild shock. She stared at Kagome for what seemed to be an eternity, unable to move, or speak, or even throw an insult, which had never happened before. She had never received a "thank you" in her entire life, and now that she had, she didn't quite know what to make of it. She knew orders; she knew what to say to "you've failed me", or "you haven't done well enough" and mostly "I'm only going to give you one last chance" and the occasional "you've done well". But never a "thank you". Kagura stared blankly at Kagome, as the younger girl continued to smile warmly at her. No one had ever smiled at her before either… it was a strange, alien feeling… to be smiled at out of pure, warm gratitude. Kagura couldn't help but continue to stare.

"Come on." She said finally, turning her back on the smiling face. "Naraku will be waiting for you."

A cold chill ran through Kagome's body when she thought of going back to see Naraku. His slate blue eyes flashed into her mind and she cringed. She wished she never had to see him again. Why couldn't Tetsuya have been the Lord of the manner? "Kagura," She said quietly as she began to follow the older woman out of the door.

"Yes."

"I …" Kagome hesitated, not wanting to sound rude. "I don't really want to see him again… Naraku. He gives me…the creeps." She had no idea why she was telling her this.

Kagura turned around, studied Kagome as if to see if she was lying, and then burst out into laughter. It was Kagome's turn to be surprised. Without an explanation, Kagura turned around, her soft laughter dying out as they started again through the stretch of endless halls. "You are not alone." Kagura said finally. "When it comes to Naraku…"

Kagome waited. But Kagura stopped, suddenly falling silent. Kagome was about to ask Kagura what she was going to say, but thought the better of it. Kagura didn't seem like the type of person you wanted to annoy by asking too many questions. Kagome suddenly slowed, straining to hear. But she was only met with silence. Reluctantly, she started after Kagura again, frowning quietly to herself as she passed though the plain, white walls. She could have sworn that for a little while at least, she had been able to hear a faint buzzing, right after Kagura had fallen silent. She wondered what it was… it sounded like some sort of insect…

When they reached Naraku's room again, Kagura stood aside and pulled the dull shudder curtain away once more, waiting for Kagome to pass through to Naraku's room. Kagome did not want to go anywhere near him. Kagome shot a nervous glance to Kagura, hoping the woman would leave her with some words of advice, or at least a bit of encouragement. She received none. Kagura only remained staring at her, a slight glare apparent on her pretty face. It seemed as if she were ushering her through the curtain to certain doom, rather than letting her linger in protection from it.

Finally Kagome took a deep breath, and gathered the courage to step through the curtain into the man's room. It was just as cold and dim as it had been when she had left it. The bitter smell of rotten wood and mint that lingered through the entire mansion was stronger here. But Naraku was nowhere to be seen. She was met by bare, wooden floors that were covered in some sort of dark varnish and bare walls. There wasn't a speck of dust anywhere. The only thing that served as evidence that anyone had ever been inside was the neatly folded cot and sheets that lay in the corner. Naraku wasn't there. She turned around, looking to Kagura for help, but met the dull brown curtain that now hung in the doorframe. Kagura had gone. And left her alone to face the Lord of the castle. But how she was she supposed to face him, when she couldn't even find him?

"Sayuri…" His voice was barely a voice. Naraku's call was so quiet that it appeared to melt into the rest of the typical day sounds of chirping birds, creaking floors, rustling leaves, falling acorns… She wondered if she had even heard him at all. "Sayuri, I know you're there…"

Kagome swallowed hard, Naraku's voice was just beyond the rice-paper door on the other side of the room. Suddenly her dress seemed too fancy, and it revealed too much of her pale shoulders. The gold strings in her hair were too flashy, and drew too much attention to herself, just like the golden bangle on her left wrist. What was she doing? Going out there to see him, dressed like this. Nervousness fluttered around inside her gut, but she pushed it down with a shaky will. She closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath, but it didn't help her any. She forced herself to the door, and gripped it with delicate, shaking fingers.

'_Come on,_' She told herself silently as her hand hung by its fingertips on the indent which served for a handle. '_This is stupid…_' She told herself, closing her eyes and thinking hard, trying to give herself her own private pep talk. '_He's just one man_…' she thought as she slid the door open, allowing a shaft of brilliant light into the dark, cold room. '_Just one man…_'

It was beautiful outside. Dusk was coming, making everything seem strangely brighter and fuller, as the sun showed signs of beginning to set. In front of her was a large, thick forest that was chattering with life. Ancient, towering oaks stretched their lush branches upwards towards the sun, and she felt a little bit of her nervousness fade away.

"Sayuri…"

Naraku called her back into reality. She followed his voice around the corner of the deck, and entered a beautiful, stone garden. The sand had been raked into spiraling designs around the five crudely shaped gray boulders and an upward-reaching slab of stone. Around the rocks, bright red and orange flowers turned their faces upwards towards the sky. Thick, ropy vines wrapped themselves around the stones, giving them an old, mythical feel. And posted in each little patch of plants and rock, was a little, stone house that sat up on a column, tall enough to reach to her wait, and large enough so that she could have hid her face behind it. They were neat little things, with gently sloping roofs that curled elegantly upwards at their ends. Inside the window of each little house there was a half melted, white candle, its hardened wax caught in mid slide down the candle's body. There was a hill at the back of the garden that led up into the forest, and down its slope, a slab of dark gray rock had been set down. A small stream of crystal clear water slid down its surface, smoothing the stone, and then dripping down into a marble pond below, filled with bright orange and red speckled goldfish. It was like she had been dropped into a fairy tale.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Naraku's throaty voice slithered into the silence. Kagome turned, startled, she had forgotten all about him.

Naraku was sitting in the corner of the garden that she had yet to study. In it, was a huge, Kwanzan tree, its braches stretching out over a small, stone bench with no back, on which Naraku sat, alone in its shade. The tree's soft, pink blossoms were in the height of bloom, and seemed to dip down to the bench, as if inviting whoever sat there to smell their sweet fragrance. It took Kagome's breath away.

Naraku smiled, his slate blue eyes gentle for once. He brought his large, pale hand to rest on the place beside him, inviting her to sit down. Kagome followed the footsteps that Naraku had left imprinted into the sand's carefully spiraling design. Each patch of stone and flower had its own circular lines of sand around it… it reminded Kagome, somewhat, of ripples in a lake; small, and elegant. She didn't want to ruin them.

"Come here, Sayuri…" Naraku said, smiling at her. "Come sit by me."

She tried her hardest not to look at him, but she couldn't help it, he was staring so steadily at her. She ducked her head underneath the Kwanzan tree's gentle protection; she inhaled the cool, fresh air and sat down beside Naraku. She expected him to start saying something as soon as her dress touched the bench, but on the contrary, he said nothing at all. They sat in silence.

After a while, Kagome finally dug up the nerve to look directly at him. Naraku was staring out from underneath the light pink branches, his eyes had turned mellow and gentle, as he traced the spiraling design in the garden. Kagome was surprised at how gentle he suddenly appeared. She watched as a small, soft smile softened his face, and he stared at the beautiful Eden in front of him. Maybe he wasn't that bad… she thought to herself, turning to join him in his study of the garden. She watched the way the smooth, unwavering lines curled around the rocks, and spread across the sand, meeting with the lines of the other rippling circles, and fading into each other…

A man with a garden like this, she decided, couldn't be all that bad. He had only frightened her so badly, she supposed, because he had claimed to know her. Suddenly a sense of dread sunk into her. That was right… he was the only person who seemed to know her. But who was she? Quickly, she fell back into her old habit of trying to remember. She raked at the bottom of her mind, trying desperately to uncover something… anything… some sort of hint as to who she was… or where she came from… did she even have a family?

"Sayuri…"

She stopped, suddenly realizing that she had started to frown, she turned to meet Naraku's slate blue eyes, this time only flinching a little as she met them. He seemed to be so much calmer now, so much gentler, that she found… she wasn't really afraid of him at all.

"Yes?" She asked, holding his steady gaze.

"Do you remember, anything?" he asked, hopeful.

She opened her mouth to say "no", but ended up closing it again. She was not going to cry. Not again. She had cried too much today already. She smiled at Naraku, trying to just be reassuring, but she must have allowed her silent answer to show through her act, because he smiled sadly down at her in return.

"That man that you met earlier," Naraku said, turning back to the garden, "Tetsuya Okinami… he is my adopted son."

"Oh…" She said, not knowing how she was expected to respond. She fidgeted with her hands in the cooling, fragrant air. "He's a very nice man." She said finally.

Naraku smiled, looking over to meet her eyes momentarily, "Thank you." Then, he shifted, moving his right foot up to the bench, and propping his elbow up on his now bent knee. He gazed out into the garden again as Kagome gawked at the casual gesture. He was a Lord of a castle, and from what she remembered about etiquette he was always to keep correct posture and manners in polite company.

'_Maybe that means…_' She thought slowly to herself, her brow furrowing. '_Maybe I'm not polite company… maybe…_' She bit her lip, '_Maybe I'm a slave of his or something…_'

"Sayuri," Naraku pulled her out of her thoughts once again. "Tetsuya always wanted to meet you."

Kagome looked at Naraku, confused. "We met each other earlier."

At that Naraku let a small smile slip onto his face, he laughed and bent his head downwards before lifting it again. "No…" he said, shaking some loose hair out of his face. "No, that's not what I mean… I mean… he always wanted to meet the woman… that I fell in love with…"

She felt as if he had suddenly dropped a bucket of ice water over her. It hit her like a kick in the gut. "That you… fell in love with?" She struggled with the words. None of it made sense to her yet, and then in a sudden burst of realization, it made perfect sense. "Y-You mean, we… I…" she was suddenly grateful that she was sitting down, as she gripped the edges of the stone bench with her hands. "We're _married_?" She whispered.

Naraku let out soft laughter, which would have annoyed her had she still not been so shocked. "No." He said. "We were only lovers."

"Lovers?" The word was thick and slow in her mouth, and heavy on her tongue. She was in love with the Lord of a Castle? Her? Suddenly everything was overwhelming her, the entire day suddenly seemed like too much to bear. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, only to lose it again as a large hand was placed on her back. She looked up at Naraku, who had put a worried hand over her, as if to comfort her. Kagome knew that he meant well, but all she wanted to do was get some space to breathe.

"Who…" She stared, before stopping and making an attempt at gathering her composure. "Who am I?" She asked, him, as the Lord's hand slipped away from her back.

His slate blue eyes were deadly serious. "Your name is Sayuri Asakura."

She turned the name over and over in her mind, but there was no familiarity attached to it, and it didn't help to tear down that massive wall that was blocking the rest of her life from her. "Sayuri Asakura…" She repeated the name gently to herself. "Who are you?"

"I am Naraku, Lord of this castle and the nearby village." She watched him carefully as he spoke, absorbing everything that he said, when something suddenly came to her.

"You and I… we're…" She struggled to say "in love" but the words wouldn't come out, "we're in a relationship," she said weakly. "But… you look so much older than I do… and you have a son…" She added as an after thought. "Who's older than me, so how can we be…"

Naraku shook his head. "Age has never meant anything to us… not to you and I… our relationship is…" he searched for the right words. "Special."

Kagome gulped hard, trying calm herself down and think clearly, the peace that the garden had instilled in her not so long ago had vanished. '_Oh God…_' She thought quietly to herself, '_Oh God… what kind of mess am I in?_' "Special how?" She asked warily.

He smiled warmly at her, as he reached over and fingered one of the gold strings in her hair. "True love." He murmured.

Kagome smiled weakly at him. "Oh…" She didn't want to be mean, but she didn't even know this man… she had no idea if she was capable of falling in love with him.

Naraku seemed to notice that she was uncomfortable, and let go of the thread, backing away and giving her some personal space, which she was grateful for. She could breathe without that bitter smell. "So…" she said, trying to find out as much as she could, "Other than my name… who am I? How long have we known each other?"

"Since we were children." He said with a smile. "You're father," Naraku began, "Was the head priest of my temple, and when my father was Lord they were great friends, like brothers to each other. And you were the most beautiful girl in the entire village; there wasn't anyone who wouldn't have gladly stepped up to make you theirs."

Kagome was grateful that Naraku was looking up into the maze of pink flowers above their heads, otherwise she was sure he would have laughed at how deeply she must have been blushing. She could feel her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"But you and I," Naraku started again, "We were already in love, and we had promised each other when you were only fourteen that we would always belong to each other and never stray into anyone else's heart…" he smiled, as if reliving a dream. "You even went against your father's wishes, and refused to become the great priestess that you had been training to be, so that one day we could get married, and have children together." Kagome watched as Naraku's soft smile slowly disappeared, and his slate blue eyes began to cloud with what looked like sorrow or regret. "But when my father fell ill… I became heartbroken… and stupid… and I broke it off between us, telling you that you might as well become a priestess for all I cared, and that I just wanted to be alone. So…" Naraku seemed to drift a while in sadness before he came back to her. "You believed me. And the next time I returned to see you, my father was dead, and you were wearing sacred robes. You forgave me, and left the village to come live with me. But you were still a priestess, and it was divine law that you were not allowed to be married to anyone. You were never to be bound by those vows…"

"That's why…" Kagome said slowly, starting to put things together. "We're not married."

"Yes." He said with an air of sad resignation. "That's why we aren't married, and we may never become married. My foolishness has separated us both… for a lifetime."

Naraku turned to her, and in his eyes, she saw worlds of countless stories of sadness. And she felt a wave of pity wash over her, something she never thought she would feel for the blue-eyed man.

"Sayuri," he said softly, leaning closer to her. "I know you don't remember anything, and that I'm still considered a stranger to you, but do you think you could forgive me just this once… if I…" his sentence was lost somewhere into silence. And Kagome watched, confused as his face got closer and closer to hers.

'_What is he doing?_' She thought dumbly to himself, as his hand moved around to the back of her head, cradling it gently in his palm. She frowned, confused, '_What is he - _' suddenly, Naraku's cool, lips were pressed up against hers. Kagome's body went rigid in shock. '_Oh my God…_' he was _kissing _her! She sat still, hard and unmoving as a rock. She couldn't even believe this was happening… this couldn't be real…

As suddenly as she realized that she was being kissed, Naraku pulled away, leaving Kagome stunned and speechless.

"Do you remember me?" Naraku asked gently, patiently waiting for her to become responsive again.

"I…" She heard herself say weakly. "I…" Suddenly everything snapped into place. She had just been kissed. She had just been kissed on the lips by a complete stranger. She shot up from her seat. "I! I… what… uhhh, I have to-" She turned to run out of the garden, but his cold, soft hand caught hers and rendered her still yet again.

"Sayuri…" he said slowly, she couldn't turn around and face him. Not after that. "Sayuri," he continued. "Do you remember anything at all?"

'_He was trying to jog my memory…_' She thought dumbly to herself. '_Maybe he wasn't trying to harass me… maybe he was just… trying to help me remember something…_' Quietly, she turned back towards him and he let go of her hand. '_Still…_' She thought, fidgeting nervously, '_he could have thought of a better way than that…_'

"Anything?" his deep, quiet voice brought her back to him. She blushed, opening her mouth to say "no", but when she saw the soft, saddened look in his eyes, she couldn't bring herself to do it. "I… uh…" She sighed, smiling as best she could back at him. "Maybe…" She said quietly.

Naraku smiled gratefully at her, and stood. "Alright." He said, "We'll take it slow for now… why don't you go find Tetsuya, and he'll fix you something to eat."

She felt as if she were being set free. She felt as if the world had just been dropped off her shoulders and she could move freely again. She was grateful to be able to get away… she needed to think. She walked as quickly as she could out of the sand garden without breaking into a run, forgetting to follow the footprints she had left before and jumped up onto the deck that wrapped itself around the house. She could only breathe again, once she was around the corner, and she knew Naraku wasn't watching her.

Naraku stood in the sand garden, alone, looking after the girl, who had disappeared around the corner a while ago. Gingerly, he brought the back of his hand up to his mouth and wiped away the soft feeling of Kagome's lips against his.

"That was quite the heartwarming story you just told that girl."

Naraku turned, to see Kagura standing behind him, her fan held so that it hid her mouth. He smiled a wicked smile at his incarnation, and he imagined from her hardening eyes that she was sneering back at him. "Find Kanna and inform her of all the pretty things I've put into the young priestess's head. She ought to know about her "past" when the time comes for Kagome to meet her." With that he turned and followed Kagome's footprints back to the castle. "I have business to attend to."

Kagura stared at her master, a look of contempt spreading across her face. "They were all lies." She said bitterly as she sat on the stone bench, suddenly tired. "All those things you've told her… they were all a pack of pretty lies."

* * *

A/N: i warned you it would be long now didn't i? Sooo lemme know what you think! Ok? ok. Its been a pleasure doing buisness with you and noooow for my review corner:

**REVIEW CORNER!**

**gothic-ember**: hi again! Welcome back! Naraku's plan... oh well... its um... Narakuy... you know... evil and strange and stuff and twisted as usual. When it comes to Kagome's memory... i'm afraid you will just have to wait. (i hate that word... "wait" i have no patience to speak of whatsoever ;). ) and find out. sorry! (btw: thanks for the words of wisdom, they are greatly appreciated).

**SilverStarWing**: Well she certainly will doher fair share ofnudging... unfortunately because of those stupid insects of Naraku's she never actually "leeks" anything, but she does do a lot of nuging... which may turn into forceful shoving... but i cant give anything away.

**Squabbit**: I will never doubt you or your silentpresense ever, ever, everagain! Thank you for the review!

**Isisoftheunderground**: (phew) thank you for not being confused! I was so nervous about that! Anyway, let me know what you think of this one ok, things starting to get boring? Other things taking too long? Anything i can do to improve this thing? I'd really appreciate anything you have to say.

**Akileh**: AHAHA! NEW REVIWER EVERYBODY! where did we put that rubber chicken again? Sorry... new reviewers make me kinda giddy. Anyway, thankyou for reviewing! and I'm soooo soooo sorry that i had you all anonymous ones blocked. I was so horrified when i realized it. Keep reviewing! And thankyou for the detail compliment! Yey!

OK! That's it for ch. 10 and recent reviews. If any of you have questions just add them in when you review and ill do my best to answer in the next chapter. and... just so you guys kno. I LOVE YOU ALL! REVIEWRS ROCK!

XOX nanirain

* * *


	10. A Deception of the Heart

A/N: hmmm... there's something about this chapter that's not quite right. And i can't put my finger on it. I think it might be just plain bad. Anyway I'm sorry about it, i think its becasue i'm so stressed out over finals, my writing style had just gone down the drain. heh heh... sorry. And i know, i know, this one took me a while. But its because i have no time! but i will in like, two weeks, scholl will be out on June 10th, and as soon as that happens, i promise ill be updating more than ever.

Disclaimer: I only own Tetsuya and the hat girl (She gets a name in the next chapter)

btw factoid: Next Chapter is when Kagome and Inuyasha meet! YEY! I'm almost as excited as some of you... hey i said almost... and the reviewers corner is at the bottom. I LUV YOU ALL! u prolly know that already but i'll say it anyway. Ok, see you on the other side of this long, "off" chapter. (off bad, i just cant figure out what went wrong. Sorry again guys, dont hate me).

**13th Chapter: A deception of the Heart**

"You don't want to eat that yet," Tetsuya warned, his green eyes sparkling with silent laughter as Kagome brought her wandering hand back to her lap. "Its still very hot."

Kagome forced herself to sit still, trying her best to ignore the hollow aching in her stomach. She hadn't realized it before, but now that she had found the kitchen, a small, comfortable room with two windows, and a flickering candle in every corner, and also found that Tetsuya happened to be an amazing chef, she suddenly realized that she was starving. She stared longingly at the food laid out in front of her, fish, rice, and noodles all cooked to tantalizing perfection, and smelling just as heavenly as it looked. Rich scents floated through the air, practically driving her crazy, but Tetsuya wouldn't allow her to eat any of it until it had cooled down. "_I don't want you to burn your tongue on top of everything else that's happened today…_" He had said with a smile. She almost couldn't stand it. She was about ready to die.

Tetsuya chuckled and she looked up at him, annoyed. "What?" She asked, unaware that she was glaring at him as if he were her teasing older brother. She felt more comfortable with him than with anyone else in the castle. Even Naraku…

'_No_,' She thought frowning a little, '_make that **especially **Naraku…**' **_It had been about twenty minutes since the blue-eyed prince had kissed her in the garden, and she still couldn't bring herself to believe that it had actually happened. She couldn't bring herself to believe that Naraku, supposedly her childhood love, had simply reached out to her and kissed her, just like that, without any warning. One minute they had been talking, and the next… Kagome shivered. What was frightening her was the fact that a part of her really did want to believe him. There was a part of her inside herself that just wanted to be able to believe the beautiful, bittersweet love story that Naraku had told her. But she was scared. As much as she wanted to believe him, she couldn't bring herself to trust him… not yet.

"Alright," Tetsuya said, setting down a platter of meat with a heavy clunk, "tell me what's wrong."

Kagome pulled out her thoughts, not even realizing that she had started paying more attention to herself and her own problems than to the food. Her fingers were laced together thoughtfully and she was resting her chin on the fragile bridge of digits, her fingers arching under the weight. "What?"

"You have the face."

She blinked, almost smiling. "What face?"

"The 'something's-bothering-me-face'." Tetsuya said bluntly. "And since I hate eating dinner with unhappy company, it would be greatly appreciated it if you told me what was wrong." His smile showed that the last part was a joke, but something in his compelling copper green eyes told Kagome he was serious about her telling him what was wrong.

Kagome bit her lip, afraid of confiding in Tetsuya, seeing as how he was technically a stranger as well. But she just felt so… comfortable around him. "Tetsuya," She said slowly, fidgeting with her hands, "do you know about that whole thing between Naraku and me?" She was a little afraid of the answer, hesitating before continuing, "You know, about how we're… _together_?"

Tetsuya's expression grew very serious very suddenly, and it made her feel uncomfortable. He gazed at her with a certain gentle intensity that made her restless. She suddenly wished she hadn't asked the question.

"Yes," was his answer.

The silence that followed was thick and suffocating. Kagome felt a sudden fear start running through her, as she realized that she would never have any way to truly find out if Naraku was telling her the truth. Maybe she should just trust him then. She bent her face down so she could study the floor, her eyes hidden behind her feathery, raven bangs. Tetsuya couldn't see the tears welling up in her darkened eyes, and it was probably better that way.

Maybe she should just trust him… maybe she should just decide to trust Naraku. He _seemed_ like he was telling the truth. And she couldn't think of any reason he would have to lie to her about something like that. She racked her brain, thinking desperately. Had she been in love? Had she really been so deeply and truly in love? And if she had… how had she allowed herself to have forgotten its feeling? What had happened to her that had made her lose her memory?

"Why did I wake up beneath the castle?" She whispered to herself.

"Sorry?"

She looked up to see Tetsuya had resumed cooking, and was just putting the last dish onto a large silver platter. It smelled delicious.

"Um, nothing." She said with a shake of her head, moving her thick bangs from her eyes and pushing aside her worries for now. She just wanted to forget them…if only it were that easy.

"Alright!" Tetsuya said, handing her a pair of wooden chopsticks, which were smooth from use and easy to handle. "Let's dig in, shall we?"

She smiled gratefully at him, relived at finally being able to quench the hunger in her body. She imagined she hadn't had anything to eat since forever. It was all unbelievably good, although food often is when the one who is eating is unimaginably hungry. The rich, salty flavors flooded her mouth and left her tongue tingling. Her stomach stopped aching almost the instant she started, and for a while, she was content to just eat quietly in the small kitchen with Tetsuya. The older man sat across the table from her, on the blue cushion that he had been carrying around earlier. He had grinned when he had set it down, "_Told you it would be good for something_."

She smiled. Tetsuya was really nice. There was something about him that was strong, yet gentle. He was the only person in the castle who wasn't strange or somewhat frightening in one way or another. He had a clam, yet determined demeanor about him, and a smile that made her feel as if everything would be alright. He was the only person she felt truly comfortable with. Maybe it had been because he was the first person to help her…

"Is it any good?"

She met his coppery-green eyes with a smile and nodded. "It's the best I've ever tasted."

Tetsuya laughed as he gingerly placed a white piece of fish into his mouth, "Clearly then, you need to get out more often." He said with a grin.

"Where did you learn to cook?" She asked, curious and eager to try to forget what had happened earlier that afternoon.

"My mother taught me," He replied casually, "Before she died."

Instantly, Kagome regretted asking. "I'm sorry…" She said quietly.

"Don't be." Tetsuya said, giving her another one of his priceless smiles. "She as happy, when she was alive."

Kagome was quiet for a long time, focusing on how delicious the food was, and how still the room was around her. Soon, though, the silence began pressing in at her from all sides, and she was desperate to make conversation about something… anything. "What happened?" She asked, hoping he wouldn't mind. He didn't seem to be upset about talking about it.

"Our village was attacked by a demon fifteen years ago." He said, as if he were telling an everyday story. "I was only six when he came tearing through our village with blood on his hands… My father had already been killed by him in a previous attack, and my mother hid me in a closet when the villagers started screaming."

"Oh my God," Kagome said softly. "That's horrible." She had never imagined that anyone as calm and peaceful as Tetsuya could have had such a scaring past. "Was she killed?"

Tetsuya nodded slowly, his chopsticks were resting in between his fingers on his smooth, white plate, a puddle of bleeding soy sauce getting closer and closer to the edge of the plate. "I never heard her screaming…" Tetsuya continued, studying the far back corner of the kitchen. "I guess she must have known that if she had screamed I would have come out to try to help her, and would be killed in an instant… But I could hear the struggle, I could hear her trying to fight him, and I heard his laughter at her "silly mortal attempts" as he called them. But I was too frightened to come out. For some reason I thought she would still be ok, you know, since she never sounded like she was dying."

"Oh my God, Tetsuya, that's horrible." Kagome said, stopping him as she felt tears well up in her eyes for what must have been the fifteenth time that day. "I'm sorry so sorry. I should never have brought it up."

"That's ok." Tetsuya said gently. "I'm happy here. And I've learned that the more I dwell in the past, the more pain it causes me. Its better just to try to accept things for what they are…. and besides, Naraku has been a good father to me."

"He found you after the attack?" Kagome asked, wondering how Naraku had been connected.

"It had been one of his villages at the time." Tetsuya explained. "It had also been your village."

Kagome stared, stunned. "My village?" She asked.

Tetsuya nodded, smiling at her childish look of shock. "You were our high priestess, though I was too young to know it at the time. It was you who arrived with Naraku to slay the demon. But he had already fled by the time you arrived."

Kagome this time was unable to hold back her tears. She turned away from Tetsuya, studied the wall and cried. Her tears ran silently down her cheeks. She didn't know why they were there, or why she was so upset about what Tetsuya had told her. Maybe it was just the shock of it. Maybe it was that she was so overwhelmed by discovering her entire past in one day. Or maybe it was…

"I'm sorry, Tetsuya." She said, her voice shivering.

There was a long silence behind her, and for a moment she thought that Tetsuya had gone. But soon, his strong, comforting voice came back to her. "Sorry for what?" He asked gently.

"I … I'm sorry … I don't know really why. I just am. I… I guess its because I didn't get to you in time, to save your mother. Can you forgive me?" She waited for his answer, dreading it every second. Then, a large, strong hand cupped around her chin and she allowed it to tilt her head towards Tetsuya's calm copper green eyes.

"Don't be sorry." Tetsuya said softly. "It's not your fault. The only person to be held responsible for that day is the demon. Do you understand?" He asked, forcing her to look at him. "It's his fault. Not yours. So don't go blaming yourself for something you couldn't help. Now stop crying, and start eating. I went through a lot of trouble to cook this meal for a beautiful girl, and I'll be absolutely heart broken if she doesn't eat it." He said with a wink.

Kagome nodded, she was still hungry, but despite Tetsuya's kind words, she couldn't seem to stop the tears. They continued to fall from her face, to the ground, to the table, into her food. She just couldn't stop. Tetsuya asked her after a while, why she was still crying.

"I don't know." She said, smiling at him through her tears. But inside she knew, she was crying was because of guilt. "Don't you ever wish, you could get back at the demon, for destroying your village and killing your mother?" Kagome asked, as Tetsuya cleaned the plates. He was quiet for a long time, his large hands slowly rubbing away the filth from the white porcelain beneath.

"Everyday." He replied softly, and the tears came back to her again.

She had stopped crying, thankfully, by the time Tetsuya had led her to her room, said goodnight and shut the door in darkness. She saw the white, flat cot glowing softly in the moonlight that streamed through the window and realized that she was too restless to sleep. Instead, she went to the window, sat on the ground beside it, and looked up at the stars. They were like an ocean above her. She found that it was incredibly easy for her to get lost in them, forever. Part of her wished she could completely lose herself in them. She'd never have to think, or worry, or live. She would just be wandering through sparkling, silver beauty, and she would never have to go through any pain or confusion ever again…

She was asleep before she realized, and dreaming before she could stop herself. She was dreaming about a man. He was hers, and he was hurting. She could feel his pain in every fiber of her heart, and it killed her. He was mourning her, grieving for her. He had lost her, and now he was alone. She could feel it in her soul. She had to be with him. In her dream, he wrapped his arms around her, and held her, and told her everything was going to be alright. And she believed him. With everything she was she believed him. She could feel his protection falling completely over her. And he promised her, whispering it into her ear that he would never let her go. Never again. He would protect her and hold her forever… he loved her.

Kagome sat upright from the floor, her breathing was ragged and she could feel her excitement pounding through her body. She was fully awake. She had been in love. She had known it and felt it so clearly in her dream. Her heart wanted her to get back to that somebody. She had to be with the man in her dream. She smiled, still warm from the feeling of him holding her. It must have been Naraku. It must have, there was no one else who had claimed to love her so much. He was telling the truth. She scrambled to a stand, pulling the nightgown that Tetsuya had given her to her knees as she ran to the hallway door. Where was Naraku? She needed to find Naraku.

There was a thick, blue robe that hung from the rack by the door, and she slipped it on over her shoulders to keep he midnight's chill away. It was warm and soft against her skin, and she soaked in its comfort for a while before throwing the door open and running into the shadowy hallways. There were no candles at this time of night.

She ran blindly towards the back of the castle, the cold wooden floors beneath her feet seemed to absorb her footfalls into silence. She could barely hear herself running through the night. It was eerie, and she realized she wanted the protection of the man she had felt in the dream. She needed his protection.

"Naraku!" She called out into the blind silence; she knew she was close. She didn't think or care about waking up anyone else in the castle, as she continued to run and whisper his name under her breath. Her robe flew out behind her like soft blue cape, the thin material of her nightgown was clinging to her legs in the cold. Her cheeks were flushed and she was breathing heavily when she finally found the brown shuddered curtain. Thoughtlessly she threw it aside and burst into Naraku's, rotten mint-smelling room. The prince was only just sitting up, looking at her in surprise, his pale face even paler in the moonlight. "Sayuri?" he asked, sounding worried and shocked, as he began to move the sheets away from him. "What's-"

"I remember!" She breathed excitedly as she ran to him and threw her arms around his neck, feeling him in her arms. "Naraku, I remember! I remember being in love," she said, holding tightly to him. "I was in love with you!"

Slowly, Naraku wrapped his arms around her. "Sayuri... what happened?"

Kagome closed her eyes, unable to stop herself from smiling. She could trust him. She could be in love with him… "I had a dream, and in it I remembered you. I could feel all your pain and your sadness when you lost me, and I could hear you promising me that you'd always protect me. And I knew that you really loved me. And I-" She took a deep breath, realizing that she needed to breathe. "And I was so in love with the man in the dream. It must have been you," She whispered. "It must have." Kagome pulled back to study his pale, starlit face, smiling. She had finally been able to trust someone. Someone she loved. Maybe now she would be able to remember the rest of her past. She knew Naraku would help her. If he loved her as much as he had in the dream, she knew he would help her. He had too.

Naraku smiled back at her, moving some of her dark hair away from her eyes. She wasn't afraid this time. But she watched him, confused, as his smile grew sad. "Sayuri…." He said gently, his deep voice was soft.

"What?" She asked, as she took his hand away from her hair and held it in hers. It was so cold. "What's wrong?"

"You may remember me…. but we… I still cannot be with you... not now." Naraku said, looking away from her in shame.

Kagome was stunned. She shifted in the soft white sheets beneath her uncomfortably. "Wh-why?" She whispered weakly, her heart plummeting.

"There is a man." Naraku said bitterly, "A demon, who stands in our way. He tournaments my villages day after day, killing, robbing, terrorizing my people. He and his two friends." He turned to look at her, his eyes deep with sadness and pain. " I am sorry, Sayuri… I'm so very sorry. But these three are a horrible plague to my people, and until they are defeated, I can focus on nothing else." He said.

Sayuri stared at him, shocked. But she had finally remembered. She had finally brought herself to believe in him through all her confusion and all her pain. It had been so hard for her… and his response was that he couldn't' be with her? She bit back tears, trying her best to hide them from him. She hated to cry.

But Naraku saw them glistening in her beautiful dark eyes. "Sayuri," He said, looking pained. "Believe me, I want nothing else than to live with you. I love you more than life itself." He touched her hair again, running his long cold fingers through it. "But I cannot be so selfish as to ignore my people. The demon has been slaughtering them for too long. I need to take my responsibility for their safety as their Lord. I've lost too many lives already."

Kagome nodded, trying her best to understand. But she couldn't help it. It was just one problem after another… and there was only so much she could handle without breaking down. She knew she was being selfish. But she didn't care.

"I would have killed the demon and his comrades long ago," Naraku continued, his hand still at her face, "but…. he nearly killed me a year ago," He added, looking ashamed. "And as it was," he said, studying her intently with his slate blue eyes, worry and regret spreading all over his face, "you barely escaped with your life."

Kagome stared in silent shock. "_My_ life?"

Naraku nodded, sadly. "Don't you ever wonder, my sweet, innocent love, how you ended up in the cellar?"

Kagome remembered suddenly about how she had planned on questioning him about that, but in all her excitement, she had completely forgotten. She silently berated herself for being so forgetful and stupid, but another question drover her to break the silence.

"What," She started, and then took a breath for focus. "What happened to me?" The night suddenly seemed too cold, and she brought her robe tightly around her shoulders as Naraku continued.

"He almost killed you." The prince said, suddenly furious as he took his hand away from her soft, raven hair. "That filthy demon almost killed you. And I-" He seemed to realize that he was losing control because he silenced himself, leaving Kagome to the stillness of the dark. When he continued, his voice was softer. "And I wasn't there to protect you from him… that's why you were so badly hurt… Its my fault."

"How did I lose my memory?" She asked, realizing that she was shaking.

Naraku stood, leaving her to sit on the soft, cold sheets by herself. Her newfound love began to pace around the room, rubbing his eye with the palm of his hand, tiredly. "You were hurt so badly when I found you…" He said, his voice shaking. "I didn't know what to do… I thought you were dead. Sayuri," he said turning to look at her, making her shift uncomfortably. "I was so afraid…" he whispered. "I thought I was going to lose you… again. Your father said that you were still alive when he found you, and he gave me the sacred amber to place you in, thinking that maybe the Gods would protect you, and lead you back to me someday."

Kagome listened, quietly absorbing everything he was telling her, trying to pull the robe tighter around herself to keep out the cold, but somehow was unable to.

"But the villagers…" Naraku said, starting to walk around the room again. Kagome felt her pity well up for him, he was obviously still upset about the past. "The villagers wanted to burn you. They thought that you would be reincarnated and would come back to protect the village. They said…" Naraku stopped, sighing with weariness. His shadow stretched out to her on the floor, the moonlight pouring in through the window against his figure. "They said that it was the best thing for you… and for me. And maybe…" he sighed again, making her even sadder for him. "Maybe they were right. But I just couldn't stand the thought of them taking you away from me and throwing you into a fire." He said, turning to look at her, his slate blue eyes asking for forgiveness. "I just couldn't stand it, Sayuri. You deserved so much better… so I took you, and I told them that I would burn you myself. For the first time in my entire life I lied to my people, telling them I would wait with them for the day that your reincarnated soul returned to us."

"But you didn't." Kagome said quietly, her voice was so small in the enormity of the dark room. "You used the amber my father gave you."

"Yes." Naraku said, looking ashamed and sad in the moonlight. "I couldn't bring myself to do anything differently… so I hid you under the castle, in case anyone should come to see me about legal issues, they wouldn't know that I had kept you. Even Tetsuya was unaware of your presence beneath the castle. I couldn't risk anyone ever knowing."

Kagome stared silently at Naraku, not knowing what to say or how to respond. It all sounded like something out of a fairy tale... she hardly could bring herself to believe it.

"I must destroy that demon." Naraku said, his words were harsh and angry, and Kagome noticed with a twinge of fear that his fists were clenched white and shaking. "He hurt you so badly. And before I can show my face again to the villagers who I lied to, I must rid them of his destruction. It is the least I can do…"

"Is there anything…"Kagome started before she realized she was thinking out loud, "Is there anything I can do?"

Naraku turned to her, and studied her thoughtfully, as she waited. Then he turned away from her, staring out the window as his shadow fell over her face. " I couldn't ask that of you." Naraku said, quietly, "Not after I almost lost you."

Suddenly she was up and walking towards him, her feet were freezing against the hard wood floors but she didn't care. "Naraku," She said, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I want to help."

Naraku turned to look at her, his slate blue eyes troubled. "Perhaps then," he said slowly. "It is the only way. After all," he said with a weak smile, "you were the only one whom the demon Inuyasha ever feared."

As soon as the name had left his lips Kagome was struck cold. Her body froze and her hand went rigid on Naraku's shoulder. _'Inuyasha…'_ She turned the name over and over inside her head. She _knew_ that name. It made her heart beat faster beneath her chest. It was the first thing that anyone had said about her past, that had stirred something inside of her. In her mind, the stone wall that held back her memories began to crumble just the slightest bit. But despite her desperate efforts she was unable to break it. She was still unable to set her memories free. But the name "Inuyasha" sent her blood rushing to her dizzying head. Maybe she was begging to remember.

"Inuyasha?" She asked, trying to hide her recognition of the name. She didn't want to get Naraku's hopes up for her. She didn't know if he could handle it. "He was afraid of me?" She asked weakly, still trying in vain to remember something.

Naraku's hand traced her cheekbone gently. His fingers were like a cold chill running across her face. "Yes. You, Sayuri Asakura, my love, were the greatest priestess the world has ever known."

Kagome felt her knees weaken. "The greatest priestess…" She whispered. "Oh God…"

Naraku smiled and put his hand on her shoulder. "Go to sleep for now, Sayuri. You've had a long day. Tomorrow we'll talk more about Inuyasha and how we will deal with him. But for now," he said, whispering, "good night." He kissed her cheek gently, giving her a spine-shattering chill down as he sent her back to her room. She left silently, and disappeared as the brown shudder closed behind her.

One she was gone, Naraku summoned Kagura. The sorceress arrived in a matter of seconds.

"What is it now, Naraku?" She asked, contempt obvious in her voice. "More scheming for the girl?" She asked bitterly.

Naraku smiled at Kagura's obvious hatred, knowing that despite her feelings, she was powerless to break away from him. He relished in her frustration. "It's not about the girl Kagura." He said darkly. "It's about the boy... sent out the snakes in the morning." He said, turning away from her to study the night sky out the window. "_Kagome_ will be the one enemy that Inuyasha will never be able to bring himself to defeat." He said with a wicked smile. "This time… I _will _destroy him."

Kagura sneered and drew her fan across her mouth to hide it. "As you wish…" She said venomously. "Master Naraku."

A/N: BuM bUm BuMmMmM! So yeah, i know i know there was something weird. it didn't really flow. but the next chap will be better i promise! I just need to get through finals ok? ok.

**REVEIW CORNER:**

**The Squabbit:** Thank you! The last chapter was prolly better than this one neh? But hey... (sigh) i dont know what happened... but i wont happen again. (offers pinky) promise.

**SilverStarWing**: Oh yes, he's evil alright. As you can see, the basement story was explained in this chapter (no matter how poorly, sorry about that) How will Inuyasha and Kagome react when the reunite? Well... that's the nex chapter (which will be much better than this one, i PROMISE!)

**Isisoftheunderground**: Darn those spelling errors! Sorry about those. Grrr, anyway, if you have any idea about what this one was missing... im thinking its a little too choppy? What do you think? Kagome and Inuyasha will meet in the next chapter (which is posted soon(ish) i'm hoping.) until then, lemme know your opinion, i think i could use a bit of help.

**Gothic-ember**: heh heh, sounds like we're both not so big on patience... oh well... sorry about this last chap. i know its kind of strange. but ill try harder next time. Kagome and Inuyasha meet up in the next chapter, just hold patience until then ok? THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING! And by the way, Naraku will turn into an even more creepier evil, twisted hanyou thingy.

**bubblez4ya**: NEW REVIEWER! YEY! uh... thanks for the love and peace... the hair grease made my eyes bug out and my face twitch... thats um... a creative saying you have there. Anyway, thank you for reviewing! i'm so glad you like the story. Inuyasha and Kagome meet up in the next chapter so just wait a little longer ok? ok. hope to see u in the next chapter.

**HyperFoxChild**: ANOTHER NEW REVIEWER! YEY AGAIN! yes, i know. poor Kaome. i was gagging myself when the idea came to me, but it just had to happen. Becuase there has to be a difference from when Naraku kisses her and when Inuya-... i mean a certain someone else kisses her. (wink, that was a hint incase you didn't know :). )

**SailorKitty**: ANOTHER 'NOTHER NEW REVIEWER! YEY AGAIN AGAIN! No Kagome really doesnt know him, in fact she had no idea what she's gotten herself into... heh heh... but she'll find out soon enough. You're right that eventually Kagome does figure it out, otherwise it would be a very bad story. And i cant tell you what else happens because then id be telling the story. (sigh) But you and I do have the same feelings about Kagura. I'm voting for he freedom too. (which is a little wierd considering i'm the author... but oh well, what can i say? I'm wierd. heh heh). Thank you for your review!

**Sar**: ANOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER NEW REVIEWER! YEY AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN!(wow, he had lots of new reviweres this chapter huh?), Thank you for reading my story! I hope you read past the other chapters and lemme know what you think ok? Plus i was ecstatic to see your review on Smashed. Thank you so much for reading it! its also going to get better i promise. See you again i hope! And thank you for reviewing again.

**Priestess of Nottingham**: ANOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER NEW REVIWER! YEY AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN! Thank you thank you thank you! Reviews mean alot to me. i know this chapter was a little off, and it definately wasn't one of my best, but the next chapter will be better, i promise (to lots of people, not only you so you see i must really keep it this time). Thank you for your review!

**I hate stupid peepo**: ANOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER NEW REVIEWER! YEY AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN! Yes i kno. Its very ew. I'm sorry. But its not a Naraku and Kagome fic. i promise. i'm just as ewed as as you are. But it has to happen as i explained to **HyperFoxChild** if you want an explanation for the kiss you'll have to read my response to the **HyperFoxChild**'s review. Its only a little bit farther up than yours. i hope i didn't lose you as a reviewer on the kissing scene. that would be a shame. Please review again! please!

**Devon**: ANOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER REVIEWER! YEY AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN! thank you thank you thank you and lots more thankyous. I hope you stuck through this last chapter, even though as i have said over and over again its a little off. the next one will be better i promise! dont leave me! I'll try harder next time!

**AHHHHHHHH!**: ANOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER REVIEWR! YEY AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN! (i'm running out of breath here) so thank you for reviewing and thank you for loving it! i hope this chapter didnt dissapoint you too much. and i know i know i know Inuyasha's lonely! i'm _trying_ there's just so much to explain before they meet! but for your good news, they meet up in the next chapter! all i have to do is post it now!

**kanna14**: Oh yes he'll be mad, Inuyasha will be very very mad indeed. And Kagome will be confused. just like i was at your question, i couldn't keep the sentence clear in my mind. So i'll just say Kagome's going to have a rough time with a big identity crisis included. Ok? And Inuyasha will be plently pissed that Naraku made her that way. There will me much screaming and butt kicking. heh heh. Hope you review again!

**Suicidal Baka911**: ANOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER NEW REVIEWER! YEY AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN! hey there, and uhhh no, there will be no Naraku and Kagome fictions under my name so long as i live to have any say in it. Sorry i didn't explain that sooner, the thought never even occured to me that people would think that it would be a Narak/Kag fic (duh, nani...) Naraku and Kagome (shivers in disgust) eugh! Anyway, As i told Kanna14 there will be much anger and buttkicking. Happy?

**TennyoKameko**: ANOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER NEW REVIEWR! YEY AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN! There will be plenty more of Inuyasha! And he will be plenty angry when he sees Naraku and Kagome, oh yes he will be plenty angry indeed. Fur will fly i promise. And the next chapter (when Kagome and Inuyasha meet) will be much better than this one i promise! PLEASE DONT SMITE ME! (u know that's the first threat i've gotten, and i'm slighlty honored... ;)/ . ) I'm updating I'm updating!

**ultimateromantic**: ANOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER 'NOTHER NEW REVIEWER! YEY AGAIN AND AGAIN AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN! thank you! thank you! (starts crying) that means o much to me! I - I- (runs away wailting) (returns with a tissue) anyway, thank you so much for saying all those nice things. they had me jumping up and down and giggling. once more i hope that this chapter wasn't too dissapointing for you, i guess i hit a wall or something. But the next chapter will be better. promise. Please review again!

**Akileh**: Yey! thank you so much! It means a lot to me! my new fic is out, and im working on that as well. (maybe thats why this chapter was so badly written) anyway, i hope that you arent too dissapointed, i hate dissapointing people. the next chapter will be better i promise, and the same goes for Smashed if you ever get around to reading it. Thank you so much for reviewing and please review again!

A/N: Jeez! Lots of new reviwers! i think I'm out of breath! Anyway i'm glad that all of you took the time to review (as you can see, as the reviwers corner is almost as huge as the chapter itself) and it mean alot to me so please keep going. i know this chapter was a bust, but the next one wont be, and if it is, you have my permission to track me down and shoot me (whith something like a beebee gun, or rubber bulets, no real violence ok ppl?) So please leave me a review, advice on how to improve this last chapter would be nice, but if not, i could always use just plain old support. Or even flames. those are welcome as well. Thank y'all so much! and I'm sorry about the low quality again. and since my groveling is getting annoying by now, i'll just go away, ok? ok.

XOX

Nanirain


	11. We Meet Again

14th Chapter: We Meet Again

When morning came as a soft colorless light that filtered through the castle windows, Naraku's plan had already been set in motion. Kagura had done as she was told, and just before daybreak, she found herself standing in front of a gigantic pit of black-skinned serpents. Their small heads wove and bobbed in deadly, hypnotic dances, their purple tongues flicking out of cruel, expressionless faces as she stood before them, waiting. They were a mass of venomous hisses. She watched as their long smooth bodies slipped and wrapped over each other in ever-lasting, circular movements. Kagura could barely contain her disgust.

"Naraku has bid you all to find the half demon Inuyasha." She informed them over the cruel hissing. Millions of unintelligent beady black eyes trained instantly on her with unnerving intensity. "When you find him, you are to attempt to kill him, and any other wretched being accompanying him who steps into your path." She chose her words carefully, perfectly conscious that the Samyosho were buzzing in the thick green foliage of the surrounding forest. "The wasps of hell, Naraku's spies, the Samyosho, will follow you to him, and then inform Naraku of his whereabouts. You are to keep the hanyou in one spot so we may easily locate him." Her voice rang clear in the morning. The demons seemed to know what she was telling them. She was only telling them half of the truth.

'_You are a distraction,'_ she thought to herself,_ 'only objects being used to keep Inuyasha in one place so that we can find him and kill him. The chances are that you'll all be slaughtered by the Tetsuigia and Inuyasha's wind scar…' _Kagura lingered on her inner voice's words for a moment before pushing the thoughts away. She had never much liked snakes anyway.

"You have your orders," Kagura said, pulling a feather from her hair and enjoying the gust of wind it created as it unfolded to life-size before her. She stepped up on it without hesitation; its softness was comforting beneath her feet. "Do your job, and do it well." She said over her shoulder as she let her feather launch itself up into the sky, leaving the ocean of hissing scales below her. Now, she only had to wait for Naraku to further deceive the girl.

Kagome had had the dream again. That same dream that someone of hers was mourning over her, was crying for her… was aching. She could feel his pain in her own heart, and it nearly drove her to tears in her sleep. She needed to be with him, to be held by him, to be protected. He was calling for her… she wasn't whole without him, where was he?

Kagome woke up with a gasp, her body covered in a cold slick sweat and her heart pounding in her chest. Unaware of the way her white-knuckled hands gripped the sheets at her thighs, she tried to get herself calm. She listened, frightened as she realized that her breaths were coming in quick, ragged gasps. What was wrong with her? Why had she had that dream again? Hadn't she had found Naraku…? Throwing the sheets off of her body, Kagome made her way to the stone basin in the corner of her room, splashing her face with water to try and calm herself down.

"Ok, breathe, Sayuri…"She whispered to herself as she felt the chilling water slide down the gentle arches of her face and drip from the tip of her nose back into the basin. "Just, breathe…" She said, taking a deep breath. It was no good. She was still upset. Her hands were clenching the rim of the stone bowl with surprising force. She could feel the grainy granite cutting into her soft palms and fingers. But for some reason, she felt more comfortable that way. The slight pain grounded her.

Slowly opening her dark eyes, she stared at her reflection in the water. She looked shaken. Turning away, she wiped her face off with her sleeve and went to the window. It looked to be a few hours after dawn, and the sun was just starting to burn through the thin layer of pearly mist that the night had left behind. She stared at it for a while, trying to push aside the feeling of restlessness that the dream had invoked inside her. She bit her lip as she realized how insecure she still was. And then there was this whole Inuyasha ordeal…

'_Inuyasha_…' The name was so strange… it was… important. It was almost a catalyst for a chain reaction of feelings. Something buried deep down inside her stirred… maybe it was her memory. She just didn't understand why Inuyasha's name would make her feel that way. Why would it trigger her memories? Why not Naraku? Or Tetsuya? Why Inuyasha?

"I must have," she said softly to herself, staring at her pale hands, "I must have had some sort of traumatizing experience with him, if just speaking his name is enough to get to me." She turned her new idea over and over in her mind, but there was something about it she couldn't quite grasp. "Am I truly capable of hating someone so much?" She asked herself, wondering what Inuyasha could have done to scar her so. "Was I such a bitter person?"

"Oh, so you _are _awake."

Kagome gasped, her heart rate, which had just managed to come back down, shot back up again, and she whipped around to see Tetsuya standing in the doorframe. She let her breath come back to her when she saw his face. "Tetsuya, you scared me to death."

He chuckled, "I imagine so. Come on, scaredy cat, your breakfast is ready."

Kagome wrinkled her nose at his new nickname for her. She wasn't so sure she approved of it, but breakfast sounded wonderful. She started towards him and the open door, when she stopped, a thought occurring to her.

"Oh," she said, studying her nightgown and the heavy blue robe that was draped around her shoulders. "I'm wearing my nightgown." She could feel her own blush rising on her snow-colored cheeks.

Tetsuya frowned in mock disapproval. "Oh Buddha forbid," he said, lowering his voice. "Then you must not be allowed to eat anything at all!" He declared, a laugh hidden somewhere inside his copper-green eyes. "You shall _starve_ to death before you enter your own kitchen in a robe and nightgown! We shall _never _allow it!" In the end he broke into a smile and nodded his head toward the kitchen, laughing: "Come on, silly." And headed down the hall.

Kagome smiled and covered a laugh, her self-consciousness vanishing with Tetsuya's joke. He had looked so funny, trying to be mean and serious. The face didn't suit him at all. He was too kind.

"So did you sleep well?" Tetsuya asked, as he piled various breakfast foods on Kagome's plate. They all smelled like heaven to her, and she was convinced that Tetsuya was the best chef she had ever run into, memory or no memory. No one else's food could compare to this. She noticed that he always added a little bit of cinnamon to his food, pinching it into powder between his fingers and then sprinkling it over the dish before serving it. Maybe that was his secret ingredient.

"I slept… well." She said, hesitating as she remembered the way she had woken up. She decided to let it go. It was probably still nerves from discovering that she really was in love with Naraku. She was sure that after a while, when she became comfortable, and realized that this was where she belonged, the dream would go away.

"Did you hear the tree frogs last night?" Tetsuya asked, starting in on his breakfast.

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "Tree frogs?"

Tetsuya looked surprised. "You didn't hear them? They were noisy as anything."

Kagome smiled, picking up her chopsticks and starting to eat as well. "I wish I had heard them."

Tetsuya smiled, "I'm sure that eventually you will."

"I'm glad." She said, taking a bite of her delicious meal. "You know, last night I – Tetsuya!"

"What?" His head jerked up from his plate, startled, his dark red hair falling a little into his green eyes.

"Oh, sorry." Kagome said, unable to keep the smile off of her face. "I didn't mean to scare you, but come here and look." Kagome stood and made her way over to the open window. "Isn't this beautiful?" She said, pointing delicately to the upper right hand corner.

Tetsuya stood, and made his way slowly to the window beside her to study what she was pointing at.

"It's a spider web." He said, bluntly, apparently unimpressed.

"It's beautiful." Kagome said. "It must have rained last night when we were asleep, look." She traced over the thin silken lines that were ever so carefully spindled together. Little droplets of sparkling due glimmered in the morning sun, making the threads shine like fragile strands of pearls. It was one of those rare beauties that nature provided once in a lifetime, and Kagome couldn't help but stare at it. "I wonder where the spider is." Kagome said absently, caught up still in the way the morning set the web aglow.

"He's waiting."

Kagome listened to Tetsuya as she watched the web, not yet catching the coldness in his voice. "Waiting?"

"Yes." Tetsuya replied. "It is, after all, his trap."

"But it's beautiful." Kagome said, still unable to take her eyes off of it.

"That doesn't mean it's not deadly." Tetsuya's words seemed to be darkening, which was strange. It contradicted everything Kagome knew about him, his strong, gentleness was suddenly gone, replaced by something else. It was weird…

"Don't let yourself get caught up in the sparkles and shine, Sayuri." Tetsuya said from behind her, as Kagome began to frown. The man behind her didn't sound like Tetsuya at all. Not the one she knew. "The beauty of the web is just a distraction." He continued, "To keep you from understanding what it really is. It may seem beautiful now, but anything that allows itself to get distracted that beauty, will only realize that the web is a death trap when by the time it's too late, and the spider will have succeeded in taking another innocent's life." By now, it seemed as if a stranger were talking to her. A stranger with Tetsuya's voice. "It's all done through trickery, Kagome, don't let yourself be drawn in..."

Kagome felt her body grow cold as she listened to Tetsuya. He was begging to scare her. She turned around to look at him, and for a moment, she saw something different in his usually pleasant face. Something that scared her. It was as if he were forcefully urging her to realize something. It was as if he were… warning her.

"Tetsuya," She said slowly. "What are you talking about?"

As soon as she asked, whatever she had seen disappeared, and Tetsuya returned to his carefree self. His face instantly melted back into his kind, strong expression. He even laughed. "Nothing, Sayuri." He said turning back to the breakfast table, as if nothing had happened. "I guess I just don't like spiders that much." He said with a chuckle. "Silly childhood paranoia."

"Um, ok." She said quietly.

"Come on, let's eat." Tetsuya said, picking up his chopsticks and motioning to her seat, which she took silently. She was still unnerved.

She had only just picked up her chopsticks when the door to the kitchen opened with a crashing slam. Tetsuya jumped up, his chopsticks clattering to the floor. Kagome's head snapped around to meet whoever had interrupted breakfast, and came face to face with startlingly crimson eyes.

"Kagura." Tetsuya said, his voice firm but giving way to slight traces of concern. "Is everything alright?"

"My young Lord, and Lady." Kagura said, bowing her head respectfully before meeting their gaze again. "It's the demon Inuyasha," Kagome felt her breath catch in her throat, her heart jolting beneath her chest. "He's been found." If Kagome had been able to pay attention to anything but her own reaction, she would have noticed the shocked and infuriated look that came to Tetsuya's face… she would have noticed that his fists were clenched white.

"Where is he?" Tetsuya's voice was cold. It wasn't so much a question than an order, maybe even a threat.

"Close." Kagura said. "He is very close indeed."

"Miroku, hurry up! We don't need breakfast!" Inuyasha called over his shoulder to his friend, who was sitting in the grassy ditch, turning over little bits of meat in the dirt.

"Ah, Inuyasha," The monk said without bothering to look up, "you know what they say about an empty stomach."

"No I don't know, but if you don't hurry it up I'm gonna gut your empty stomach out! Now come on!"

The violet-eyed monk sighed. It was early in the morning. And he had awoken hungry. Unfortunately it appeared that none of the bait he was setting out for the snakes was working. It appeared fate would just be playing against him today. "Very well, then." He said, coming to a stand and stretching before dusting himself off. "Where to then?"

"We haven't made nearly as much progress as we should have." Inuyasha announced. "We're supposed to have gotten much farther from that little rainy village back there."

"I thought that the people there were very pleasant." Miroku said, remembering the house in which he had stayed a little over a month ago. "Oh yes, if I do recall correctly, you were not patient enough to thoroughly enjoy their hospitality." Inuyasha shot a golden-eyed glare Miroku's way before choosing to ignore the comment. For once he didn't feel like arguing with his friend. "If memory serves me correctly, which, it often does, then I may say its safe to believe that that very village now has no shortage of firewood and lumber, courtesy of a certain sword-bearing hanyou."

"Do we have to bring up the fact that I'm half human every _hour_?" Inuyasha asked, semi-annoyed.

"Is there a_ problem _with being a hanyou?" Miroku asked, testing out his friend.

"_No_, there _isn_'t!" Inuyasha shot back, "I just don't understand why we have to keep bringing it up. I don't remind you that you're a human every other second."

Miroku raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Is there a _problem_ with being a human?"

"Would you _stop_ with that?" Inuyasha asked, this time turning around fully and coming to a stop to face Miroku. "It's getting damn annoying!"

Miroku let a small smile play over his lips. "Ah, but it's so much fun."

Inuyasha turned around grumbling, his hands held together beneath his sleeves and braced at his chest as he mumbled something about "stupid lecherous monks…" when very abruptly, he stopped, his hands dropping to his side and lowering to his Tetsuigia. "Don't move."

Miroku didn't need the order. He could sense the massive hoard of demons coming towards them. "Can you detect what kind they are?"

"Oh yeah," Inuyasha said with a nasty spit, soon he was covering his nose with his left hand. "Snakes, lots of them."

Miroku blinked in surprise, glancing back to the side of the road where he had left the little bits of meat earlier. "Perhaps my snake bait as worked well after all." He said grimly. "Though this is not exactly what I had in mind."

"No time for jokes, Monk." Inuyasha said. "Where's Sango?"

"She's still looking for the next village on Kilala." Miroku said. "She should be-"

The firecat's roar echoed though the air as if on cue, cutting Miroku off. Soon Kilala's fiery form could be seen loping through the cerulean blue sky towards them. She emerged from the wisps of a white, cotton cloud and landed gracefully beside Miroku, who reached up to help Sango off the fire demon's back. But Sango slid off without his help. Miroku smiled when she sent him a look; she had never been one to play the helpless maiden. "Sango, welcome back. I hope you fared well?"

Unlike when she had left, Sango was now dressed in a tight, black material that clung to her figure, leaving little to his imagination. Her long brown hair had been pulled up into a high ponytail and cascaded over her shoulders and back. Red cloth strapped light pink plates of demon bone to her shoulders, elbows, and knees, and a thin piece of pink fabric was held to the front of her uniform to protect her front. A small, golden pin hung over her heart to indicate her clan of demon slayers. She was ready for combat.

"The nearest village is still the one we left a month ago." Sango said. "We've been making slow progress."

"Keh." Both slayer and monk ignored the 'told-you-so'-snort their companion replied with.

"But there's another problem." Sango said, her voice darkening and her grip on the Hiraikotsu tightening. "There's a-"

She was interrupted by the sound of metal slashing as Inuyasha drew the Tetsuigia from its hilt. "We know. I can smell them."

"There's a lot of them, Inuyasha." Sango grimly. "More than I've ever seen together in my entire career of slaying. It's not normal to have a pack that big."

"So maybe they have a jewel shard or something." Inuyasha said, brushing aside her warning. "I'm not complaining… I've been itching for a good fight."

"Inuyasha," Sango said slowly, her brows furrowing as she slid her mask on over her mouth and nose, her voice came out deeper when she had it on, "there must be thousands of them."

"Keh."

Miroku sighed, bracing himself and his staff so that they were ready for a fight. Like he said earlier… fate was just going to play against him today…

They had been fighting the snakes for twenty minutes before Miroku decided to finally resort to using his wind tunnel. Twenty minutes of bloodshed, hissing, death and stabbing into what had turned out to be a gigantic coiling mass of scaly, biting flesh. And he was sick of it. "Everybody behind me!" he declared, obediently, Sango and Inuyasha fell behind him, though he could hear Inuyasha grumbling about something or rather about hating to stand behind anyone. Miroku held back a smile and planted his feet firmly in the ground.

Holding out his right hand, he yanked on the blue prayer beads that covered his palm, the thin piece of purple fabric falling open to reveal a black hole. A portal to oblivion placed in the center of his palm, that instantly began to suck in the snake demons. They hissed and coiled in the air as they were sucked into his palm, a strong wind blowing at Miroku's hair and billowing out his robes as he watched the snakes fall to their deaths. He had done this hundreds of times, and he was prepared for their wriggling, desperate attempts to escape. What he hadn't been ready for was the Samyosho.

The first one slipped into his wind tunnel without him even noticing. But he felt it instantly, as the paralyzing venom shot up his arm. He watched in shock as the second and third ones flew right into his wind tunnel and then five more, before he finally pulled back. "Samyosho…" He breathed softly, surprised that he was already losing his voice. Their poison was fast.

"Miroku!" Sango was instantly by his side as his knees gave out on him and he collapsed on the ground. His legs were cold and numb, and his head was swimming with nausea. He felt his breathing start to slow. '_Dammit_…'

Sango's cold hands were resting on his shoulders as he did his best to turn his head and smile at her. "Houshi, are you alright?" Her beautiful dark eyes were so worried, so concerned. He wanted nothing more than to just reach out and kiss her. Instead he just smiled as best he could, hoping it wouldn't turn out like a grimace. He could tell she was not convinced.

"I need to get you back to the last village," Sango said, a bit of desperation apparent in her voice as she pulled him up to a shaky stand, throwing one of his arms around her shoulder. "Inuyasha, help me with him!"

When Sango reached Miroku, his deep violet eyes had already began to fade. She had seen the effects of the Samyosho poison only once before, on the day when she had almost killed her little brother. She had been so sure on that day that she was going to lose Miroku forever, and she had promised herself afterwards that from then on she would do everything in her power to keep him from falling into that kind of danger ever again. She had broken another one of her promises yet again.

His skin was burning hot against her touch, and his violet eyes were distant, his breathing dangerously shallow. Her heart plummeted. She refused to lose anyone else. "Miroku, are you alright?" She asked, desperately. '_Please…_' She thought as she waited for his answer. _'Tell me you're alright…_'

He tried to smile at her. But it wasn't the usual, charming smile that he always had ready for her or any other woman that passed him by. This one was forced, and he was in pain. Sango held back her tears as best she could. "I need to get you to the last village." She thought out loud, wondering if they would have the right antidotes to relieve him of the poison. She tried desperately to hold up his limp figure as he leaned against her, but she wasn't quite strong enough; the monk's muscular body was growing slacker by the second. "Inuyasha," She desperately turned to the hanyou still standing behind her. "Help me with him!"

Inuyasha wasn't looking at her. He wasn't even looking at Miroku. He was staring at the Samyosho, his gaze alone was enough to kill. "Naraku…" his voice was dangerously low.

"Inuyasha!"

His silver hair whipped around as he came to face her, seeming to notice that Miroku had been poisoned for the first time. "Inuyasha, please, ignore them for now, help me get Miroku to the last village!" She couldn't keep the begging tone out of her voice. If she lost Miroku too, on top of everything else… she just couldn't.

Inuyasha's looked torn. She could tell what was running through his brain. He was deciding, in his soul, whether he should avenge Kagome or save Miroku. Thank the Gods he still had some sense left in him. In a flash he was beside Sango, helping her support Miroku while she sighed gratefully. With Inuyasha helping her they still had a chance.

"Take him to the next village on Kilala." Inuyasha said shortly as Sango climbed up onto Kilala's back. Her demon was covered in thick, red serpent's blood, and the smell was revolting. But she had to ignore it for now. "I'll meet you there as soon as I can." Inuyasha said, placing the weakening man in front of Sango where he had the least chance of falling off. "And-" Inuyasha's voice caught and his golden eyes became distant. She wondered what was wrong. Finally, as if forcing himself, Inuyasha brought himself forwards and snatched Kagome's yellow backpack from Kilala's neck. Sango felt a wave of sadness crash into her chest.

"And try to use something in there." Inuyasha said, handing the large yellow backpack to Sango as quickly as possible, trying to get the memories that came with touching something of Kagome's out of his head. "It saved him the first time…"

"I don't know which one to use." Sango admitted, her hands shaking as she took the yellow bag.

"Neither do I." Inuyasha said. "Just try anything."

"Inuyasha are you sure-"

"Just do it!" The hanyou snapped, suddenly angry. "He's running out of time!"

"Right." Sango said with a small nod. "Kilala, take us to the last village!"

Kilala seemed to understand her as always, though she never quite knew how. In a moment, the firecat was soaring through the air, heading back to the small rainy village they had come from a month ago.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Inuyasha called as he turned back to the snakes. Most of them were gone, thanks to Miroku's wind tunnel. There was no more threat from them, but he needed to do something. He stared into the woods, listening for the buzzing of the Samyosho. He could smell them. He could hear them. He had to keep himself from grabbing his sword and slaughtering them all.

"I know you're in there, you filthy insects." He spat, his voice malicious and full of hate. "And you can go back to Naraku and tell him that I still haven't forgotten what he did to Kagome a year ago... I'll _never _forget. And I'm coming for her revenge." He said, sheathing his sword. "Tell him to be expecting me." He said before turning and launching himself into the trees. He could move faster to the village if he didn't take the main road. He needed to know if Miroku was ok.

"So, we're going to a village?" Kagome asked as she sat on the abnormally large feather. It was unnerving to be sitting on something that she knew shouldn't be capable of holding up her weight. But Kagura, Naraku and Tetsuya had all assured her that she would be fine.

"Yes." Kagura said bluntly. She stood in front of Kagome, her fan held up to cover half of her face. "Naraku's resources inform him that he had once again invaded one of his villages.

"Is he," Kagome faltered on her words "is he killing people again?"

"Most likely."

Kagome felt her heart drop to her stomach. She didn't know if she was ready to fight a demon yet. But at the same time, she couldn't leave Naraku's villagers to die because she was afraid. The only thing was, she didn't remember anything about spiritual powers or how to use them. She didn't even know if she still had them. She sure didn't feel like a priestess at the moment… maybe she had lost them somehow when Naraku put her in the amber. Maybe she wasn't even qualified to be a priestess anymore. What if she disappointed everyone? What if Inuyasha killed her?

"Don't be so nervous, Sayuri." Kagura practically scolded her. "Something tells me that the filthy hanyou won't be able to lay a finger on you."

"You think so?" Kagome asked, shifting nervously on the feather, trying heard not to look down.

A grim look crossed Kagura's face and she looked off into the distance. "I'm sure of it."

For some reason, Kagome felt like she was missing something. She was dressed in a dark blue kimono, bright red and pink flowers and circles painted in the material. The sides were slit higher than she preferred, showing up to her mid-thigh when she walked. Kagura once again had prepared her, and she had also been given a beautifully crafted bow and arrow from Tetsuya, who told her that they were hers, and that he had been holding onto them for her since she returned to them. The arrow heads were crafted from beautifully shaped silver, intricate designs were carved into the wood of the arrow shafts and into the arch of the bow. They were so beautiful, that she didn't have the heart to tell Tetsuya that she didn't remember how to use them.

"Stop daydreaming, Sayuri." Kagura's voice cut easily through the wind that Kagome seemed to have to shout through to be heard. She wondered why the woman was so comfortable when she was about fifty feet in the air on a giant feather. She had been told that Kagura was a wind sorceress, but still… she had thought that this would be frightening to anyone. But apparently not Kagura. She wondered if anything scared the red-eyed woman. "Come stand in front of me." Kagura commanded.

Doing her best to keep herself from looking down, Kagome tried to swallow her nerves and made her way in front of the woman, who cut her fan gently to the side, creating a small wind that threatened to push her forwards.

"What are you doing?" Kagome asked, confused as soon as she caught her balance.

"I'm sending him a message." Kagura said, her voice void of any emotion. "He knows you're here."

Kagome swallowed, trying to keep from throwing up in her nervousness. She was sure she was ready for this. And she couldn't decide if him knowing that she was coming was something that was very, very good, or very, very bad. She bit her lip, fidgeting with her fingers, she was in way over her head…

"Is he going to be alright?" Inuyasha demanded as he burst into the hut to which he had tracked Sango and Miroku's scents.

Sango was sitting beside an unconscious Miroku, little tears streaming down her cheeks as she held the sleeping man's hand. "They think he's going to be ok." Sango said, without bothering to look up. "I gave him something from… the future." Sango said, noticing the way Inuyasha visibly flinched. "He said he was feeling better before he passed out."

"That idiot monk!" Inuyasha practically yelled. "He didn't even notice those insects flying at him until it was too late!" he turned away from the scene; frustrated that another one of his friends was in danger. "I just-" he seemed to suddenly realize he was being unreasonable, because his whole body tensed, and then relaxed as he sighed, putting and hand to his head and leaning against the wall. He growled slightly with the tension he still felt, but yelling wouldn't do any good. "As long as he's going to be alright." He said, gritting his teeth. "I'll be damned if Naraku hurts anyone else."

Sango turned her head away from Inuyasha, and looked back to Miroku. "Inuyasha, do you-" Suddenly the hanyou was up, his whole body was tensed, his golden eyes wide.

"Inuyasha," Sango started to stand up, letting go of Miroku's hand and taking her Hiraikotsu off of the ground. "What's wrong?"

'_No_…' He stood there frozen for an eternity, staring with wide eyes. '_It's … it's not possible…_' "Her scent." He whispered. "Her scent was here..."

Sango looked confused as Inuyasha shot to the door, throwing aside the curtain. She followed after him, to find him running from the house into the street that stretched though the town. His entire body was practically shaking when she reached him. "Inuyasha, what's wrong?" Sango asked, placing her hand on her friend's shoulder. He flinched when she touched him, making her draw back. "Who was here?"

Suddenly a long, low growl rose up from his throat, startling with her. "Kagura," he drawled. "What is _she_ doing here?"

Sango looked up to see a large white feather floating lazily towards them. Perched on its tip was a woman, her kimono billowing out behind her in the breeze she was creating. When she was close enough, Sango could see the pale white skin and crimson eyes. It _was_ Kagura. She gripped her Hiraikotsu in her hand, ready for a battle. If it was the demon's intention to take or harm Miroku while he was injured, Sango would make sure she stood in the way. She would rather die than let Miroku fall into Naraku's clutches. She was aware of the wind that was blowing from behind her, making her hair flutter into her face, and she wondered how Inuyasha had been able to detect Kagura's scent when she had been downwind of him. She was sure that at the moment he couldn't smell anything because of the direction of the wind. It was probable that Kagura had made it that way.

"Inuyasha," Kagura called, her voice was cocky and defiant. Neither Sango nor Inuyasha could stand it. "Naraku bids you to stop terrorizing his villagers, and leave."

Both the slayer and the hanyou blinked.

"What?"

"Leave his village, hanyou, and let his people alone in peace."

"Keh," Inuyasha glared his fierce amber eyes. "I don't know what the hell it is you're blabbering on about now, but if you wanna get off that ridiculous feather of yours and fight me I ain't got no complaints. I haven't seen your twisted face in what? An entire year? It's about time you dragged your sorry ass back out here to die."

A wicked smile spread across Kagura's face, a knowing smile. Inuyasha didn't like it at all. "I'm not fighting you this day, half-breed," she closed her fan with a snap and tucked it into her sash, putting away her weapon. "She is." Kagura moved to the side in one graceful movement, revealing a young girl standing behind her with long dark hair…

Inuyasha's felt as if he had been struck in the chest with both his brother's sword and Totosai's sledgehammer at once. His breath was knocked out of him and he felt his body freeze with shock. He didn't believe it… he couldn't believe it… it wasn't possible. It wasn't…. "Kagome…"


	12. Impossible

Chapter 16: Impossible

A/N: Um… hi again. I know that this is a late update. Ok so its a VERY late update. But since like, June 11th I've been up in my summer house, which for some extremely inconvenient reason has had no online connection. (grumble) (grumble) Stupid phone lines… anyway the point is I couldn't update because of it. (Therefore it is not completely my fault). Ok? Ok. Once again I apologize. Also… I have total writer's block when it comes to this story… don't ask me why or how. I've never even had it before. I used to laugh at people when they told me they had it… to all those I've laughed at before… I'm so, so, sooo sorry! I had no idea how frustrating it is! GRR! Anyway…

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. However I do own several characters present in the fanfiction, including: Tetsuya and Kimiko (Kimiko is the little girl who offered Inuyasha the hat several chapters ago, I did add her into the last chapter, but for some reason the website didn't save my changes when I uploaded the document. (sobbing) Anyway, the house Miroku's been taken to is hers. She's out gathering herbs to try and help get the toxins out of him now. She'll be coming back. But other than her and Tetsuya, the characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. So don't arrest me.

**Impossible**

Seconds turned to eons. Time doubled back as if to linger over Kagome and Inuyasha's reunion. For those few eternal seconds, Inuyasha's body was completely numb.

Kagome stood above him silently, suspended thirty feet over the crusty yellow road. Behind her stood Kagura, whose hand, both slender and strangely crushing, was resting on her shoulder like an anchor, the only thing tying Kagome back into reality. Everything else was lost. The wind sorceress noticed with tightly sealed excitement the way the younger girl was barely breathing, Kagome's widened eyes never left the hanyou's… that was good. Maybe something was coming back to her… quickly Kagura pushed aside her feelings and resumed her scripted act. "Naraku has sent her to you to fight against you, Inuyasha. He wishes you the best of luck, though he assures you that you won't be able to survive."

"Kagome?" Sango breathed, her voice feint. "Inuyasha… tell me I'm not going crazy."

He couldn't hear her. He would never hear her. Not when Kagome was standing right there. He could already smell her scent reaching out like to drift around him, encircling his body, every muscle burning with taught acid. He found himself caught him off guard by its gentleness and familiarity… for the first time in the year since she had died he let his grip on the Tetsuigia slacken.

So he hadn't been imagining things earlier… he _knew_ he had been able to detect her scent from inside Kimiko's hut (A/N: for explanation on who Kimiko is, please read the disclaimer written above, or if you didn't read the disclaimer at all, then please go read it. Unless you want to be confused… in which case. Umm… whatever floats your boat… I'm ruining the moment aren't I? I'll just go away now). He would recognize it anywhere. Her scent was like vanilla lilacs … and sun-dried, cinnamon-honeysuckles… chamomile… he couldn't even describe it. But… his mind started to grasp something that was very very wrong… The scent was tainted with something. It was another smell that to him was all too familiar… bitter. He practically snarled as he recognized it… Naraku… Naraku's scent was all _over_ her. He wanted to be sick.

Kagome couldn't bring herself to move, her limbs were weighted down with the shock. Seeing Inuyasha was like taking a jolt of electricity into her body through her throat. She couldn't explain it, or even understand it. But the young man standing in front of her, with those intense golden eyes, was overpowering her somehow. She was being drawn in by him; he was getting closer and closer to her, though neither of them were moving. It was like… like her world was getting smaller, shrinking around him, until he was the only thing left. She couldn't stop herself… but why?

Kagura's hand suddenly left her shoulder, and she had lost her last tie to reality outside those golden eyes. But she didn't really care… because she hadn't really been connected in the first place. But soon the woman's voice penetrated her rapidly shrinking world and pulled her back almost as quickly as she had become lost. "Things are not always as they seem, half-breed. And very soon you will find that this girl is no exception."

"Gods… it _is_ Kagome…" Came the faint whisper behind him. Inuyasha didn't have to turn around and look at her to know that Sango was deeply shaken. Her Hiraikotsu was half-resting in the dust, little piles of the yellow piled up around its edges. Her fingers were half curled around the red cloth that she used to strap it to her back. He could smell the fear beginning to soak through the slayer's body. "This isn't possible." She sounded uncharacteristically weakened or hollow. He didn't need his sense of smell to know she was afraid.

Inuyasha bit his lower lip for frustration, his fang piercing a bit of the tender flesh and salty, bitter blood leaked into the corner of his mouth. He knew it wasn't possible, but… he wanted to believe it. He wanted to believe that Kagome had returned to him so badly… why couldn't she just be real? He allowed himself to take in everything he could about her, the beautiful doe-eyed girl he thought he would never see again. At the moment she was pale and breathless, but still strangely beautiful. Her long silk black hair fell around her face gently. Her gentle, cocoa-colored eyes looked into his, looked through to him, and he knew they were the same as before.

"Inuyasha…" She whispered his name, quietly, so quietly that he could barely hear her. At the sound of her voice, his all too familiar desire to protect her practically crushed him. He didn't care if she wasn't real. Or if it wasn't possible. All he knew was that she was back, and this time he wasn't letting her go.

"Kagura! Let her _down **now**_!" He demanded, knowing there was little else that he could do. If he tried to go up there and take her himself, he knew that Kagura would just summon a gust to send Kagome and herself higher into the thin, blue air. That would be a complete waste of time. Another thing he didn't like was that he couldn't use the wind scar to just cut them down. Because he might hit Kagome…

Kagura smirked behind her fan. " 'Let her _down **now**_?' " She echoed, slightly bemused. "And if I _don't_?"

His grip tightened on the Tetsuigia, a harsh snarl tightening his face for only a moment. He made sure the sorceress could see the blade gleam. "Then I take her from you." he drawled darkly. "For the last time: let her down and hand her over _now_."

Kagura laughed wickedly, if she had inherited anything from Naraku, it was his laugh. It was enough to send chills down anyone's spine. "You make her sound like some sort of object, what with all your 'hand-her-over s…" She mused. "But I suppose if you want her so badly I could arrange for _something_…" she smirked as the hanyou's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Don't give me that look, Inuyasha." She said, placing her hand between Kagome's shoulder blades. "She's all yours." With a gentle shove, Kagura pushed Kagome's unsuspecting figure from the feather, watching emotionlessly as the girl disappeared over the edge, never even having the time to scream.

Sango's muscles tensed on reflex, her hand now gripping the hiraikotsu till her knuckles were pressed white. She started forwards to try and save her best friend. But a certain silver-haired someone happened to beat her to it.

Thoughtlessly he shoved the Tetsuigia back into its sheath, and shot himself into the air with an effortless push from the balls of his feet. He kicked up a few clods of mud as he took off, though he was too distracted to notice; all of his focus was trained completely on saving Kagome. She was in his arms before either of them knew it. As soon as she touched him he felt his concrete heart jolt and liquefy to water. Her delicate form fit perfectly into his ready arms as they started their decent. He never thought he would ever feel that sensation again… that feeling of holding her in his arms. It had never seemed so special before…

They landed gently, silently as Inuyasha sank to his heels after his touchdown. Kagome was so shocked at first that she couldn't react. Then, she was so happy to be alive, that she didn't stop to think how it had happened. She turned around to thank him, whoever he was, for saving her life and met his piercing eyes. Choking on her words of gratitude, she realized who her savior was: Inuyasha… the enemy. She was in the hands of the enemy… the murderer. Just looking at her made her feel weak and powerless. She didn't know how to use her powers, she didn't have any way to protect herself… she was completely vulnerable… so naturally she did the only thing she could think to do: scream.

"Let go of me!" SLAP! Her hand hit the side of his face with a loud and solid echo that rivaled even Sango's. Inuyasha was stunned. So stunned, that he let her scramble out of his arms, watched her dumbly as she clutched her bow and arrows to her chest. She no longer thought about the fact that she still hadn't remembered how to use them. Now they were only a weapon… a way to protect herself from him as she backed away.

Inuyasha finally came to his senses. He blinked once, and then as he watched her practically trip over herself trying to get away from him, his expression hardened. "Kagome?"

The ice shot through her entire body like a thousand little needles as Kagome lost her breath yet again. "W-what?" She whispered, her entire body on edge.

Inuyasha frowned, his eyes still holding that incredible cruelness that seemed to be directed only at her. "What?"

Kagome's body was practically shaking as the name replayed over and over inside her mind. '_Kagome?_'

Inuyasha looked suddenly suspicious. "What's wrong?" He asked, his hard voice making him sound as if he were interrogating her. "Kagome, what is it?"

She wasn't listening to him anymore. Her eyes went colder as she studied the man who, supposedly, had been terrorizing her village for the past few years. She examined him carefully. His body was concealed from her by his large, baggy red clothes, but he must have been in phenomenal shape to have been able to have moved that fast and jumped that high. She felt herself frown as she noticed his face. There was a certain harshness in his face… No matter how strangely handsome he appeared to be with his long silver hair and square-cut jaw, he still looked… mean. '_And… his eyes_…' his hard, golden eyes declared to her rebelliously that he didn't trust anyone. He didn't love anyone. He wasn't _capable_ of loving anyone… His eyes were tight, protective barriers around his soul. Just looking at them made her shiver.

And yet… somewhere inside them, she thought she could see a few traces of fading kindness… had they been kind before? Maybe something had happened to him. Something to make all the kindness in his eyes gradually disappear. Very slowly they were giving way to sadness… or something else similarly painful. He was losing some part of his beautiful eyes… '_Whoa_!' She caught her thoughts as they drifted through her mind without her permission. '_Stop it_!' She tore her focus away. '_Don't think about things like that_!' She berated herself. '_He's a monster_.' She looked back up at him, unable to keep herself away. '_He's a monster_…' She could practically hear the doubt in her own thoughts now. '_He's… a monster… so… why did it feel so… **right** to have him save me_?'

"Kagome!" his voice snapped her out of her trance. "_What_ iswrong!"

She shuddered. There was that name again… that name that threatened to set something free inside her… "Stop it!" She burst out, closing her eyes against him. A pressured feeling that she didn't understand grew stronger whenever she looked at his face. "Stop calling me that!" She tried to back away further, but he caught her wrist. His hand was so strong…

"Kagome, what are you _talking _about!" He demanded.

"Stop!" She tried to yank her hand away.

"Kagome!"

Suddenly frustrated, she rounded on him. "Can't you _hear_ me? I said STOP IT! That's NOT my name!"

He blinked, remembering the conversation they had had when they first met, back when he was still pinned to the tree, and Kagome was only just fifteen. It seemed so long ago… He shook the memory out of his head. "Then what _is_ your name!"

"You should know!" She snapped. "It's Sayuri!" She didn't know why or how she had become so angry with him. She didn't even remember the transition between being petrified to being furious. She hadn't even realized she was _capable_ of being _this_ annoyed.

Unfortunately for Kagome, Inuyasha let go of her wrist as soon as she decided to tug again at his hold. She stumbled backwards, tripping on a stray rock in her fear-induced clumsiness. Gasping, she braced herself for the impact after the fall. It took her about ten seconds to realize that she was never going to hit the ground. Strong hands were wrapped around her waist, holding her up… and those intense golden eyes were staring at her again. "Inuyasha?"

He didn't release her. He never even seemed to blink twice at the thought of keeping her so close to him. He just held her as if she were in the middle of a dip on some dance floor and studied her face like he was looking for something with harsh, critical eyes. The more she looked at them, the more she thought he was confused. Angry, but confused… The man was very different from what she had expected a murderer to be like.

'_What are you **talking **about_?' She snapped at herself, shaking her head and trying to regain her reason although she couldn't seem to keep a grasp on it. '_Inuyasha is your **enemy**! He almost **killed** you! He's the reason why you can't remember_…' She told herself. Naraku had said so… she _knew_ she could trust him… if she couldn't trust Naraku, then who could she trust? She knew Inuyasha was evil. '_Then_…' she thought to herself, still locked in the staring match with the silver-haired man. '_If he's so evil… why can't I look away from him_?'

"Kagome…" Her body shuddered when she heard that name again. It wasn't just that the name was disturbing to hear, but it was the way he sounded when his voice said it. "What did he _do_ to you?" he said softly, his anger apparent. His grip around her waist grew tighter as his face grew angrier, until she thought that he was going to crush her spine in half. Then, without warning, he pulled her upright, out of her dip, pressing her alongside him with his left hand. With his right, he pulled out an enormous, metal sword. Kagome gaped; it had to be as big, if not bigger, than she was. She had never _seen_ a weapon of its size… or at least, she didn't think she had. But then… until she had her memory back she wouldn't know anything for sure. Inuyasha turned from her to Kagura, who stood thirty or so feet above them. "Kagura!" He shouted, his tone making her flinch. "What did he do to her!"

Kagura smiled. "Why, whatever do you mean, Inuyasha?"

"You know _damn_ **_well_** what I mean!" He snapped. "Something's _happened_ to her, and I _know_ it was him. So spare us the interrogation and just tell me what it was he _did_ to her!" He snapped.

Kagura stared blankly at him, as if she hadn't heard.

"If you like the arrangement of your organs then you'd better answer me, _now_." His death grip tightened around Kagome's waist, crushing her to him, not even noticing the way her cheeks flushed, her breath constricted. "**_What_**… _**did**… **he**… **do**?_" He asked the sorceress again.

Kagura only smirked. "Is that a threat, Inuyasha?"

"Feh." He spat out, "Depends on how you answer the question."

She still didn't answer. Kagome remained pressed up against the hanyou's side, confused as ever, and about ready to question both the hanyou and the sorceress when something else caught her attention. There was a low, rumbling coming from somewhere… and it was growing louder. She followed the sound to Inuyasha's throat, and stared dumbly at him. Was he… _growling_? Was this guy actually growling? '_What a… what a creep_…' She thought mentally to herself. '_What kind of man_… _actually **growl**s?_' Suddenly her thoughts stopped as her eyes moved from his throat, traced his jaw line, and moved up past his face and silver hair to… ears. She didn't believe it. She must have been seeing things. They weren't human… they were… dog. '_I don't believe it_.' She said firmly to herself. '_Those can't be real… they can't be. I mean, the guy doesn't **really** have **dog** ears does he_?' She found herself almost unable to resist the sudden urge to reach out and touch them. And besides, her arms were practically strapped to her sides anyway. There was no way she could ever get free of this kind of death grip. He had her trapped.

Suddenly, the cold fear shot through her body and struck her like a brick to the head. Her heart lurched into her throat. Trapped… of course. Why hadn't she realized it before? He had her pressed up against him, and she was unable to move. He was trapping her. He was going to _kill _her. '_No way…_' She thought to herself. '_Now way am I **ever** letting him hurt me… not again.' _

"Let go!" She shrieked suddenly, taking everybody, even Kagura, by surprise. She started squirming as hard as she could, her bow and arrows still clutched in either hand.

Inuyasha's body tensed in response, the murderer turned to look at her, apparently annoyed. "Kagome! What are you-"

"I said let _go_!" She yelled, noticing the way his ears flattened against his head. "Let go of me, now, you filthy demon!" Flashes of fear were shooting through her. Every story Naraku had ever told her about the murdering demon Inuyasha returned to her with enough fore to knock her over. She thought about how he had killed all those people, how he had almost killed her… he was the reason everything had gone wrong. He was the reason for everything. She felt a sudden hate bubble up inside of her, and she glared up at him with disgust. "I said let me go!"

His arm dropped from her side like a rock, and for a moment he only stared at her, his expression going from blank to suddenly furious. Before she could blink the tip of the massive blade was pressed up against the soft flesh of her throat. The feeling of the cold metal against her skin paralyzed her and she found herself once again staring into his eyes, only this time, she saw something she had never seen before: murder. His voice was low and dangerous, it sent shivers down her back. He snarled at her, showing fangs that she hadn't noticed before. "Who_ **are** y_ou." He drawled angrily. It wasn't a question. Kagome opened her mouth to yell at him about her name again when she realized she couldn't speak, something had happened to her voice. And when she looked at the utter fury in Inuyasha's eyes… she knew he was going to kill her.

**A/N**: heh heh… wow the author likes cliffies. Plz don't kill me. Anyway I have the next chapter halfway written, so I promise it won't take such a long time to update as this one did. I'm slowly plowing my way through this weird case of off again/on again writer's block when it comes to this story… maybe I've over thought it too much… oh well. If you think this chapter sucked and was way not as good as you were expecting… I'm really really sorry. Hope you can forgive me. Its probably this writing funk that I'm experiencing. Updating soon I promise. (pinky swear) Oh and by the way if you're not satisfied because you expected the instant romance to bloom up again between Inuyasha and Kagome, don't worry, it will happen. But the point of this story is sort of her realizing she's in love with him even though she can't remember him… it has to at least be semi-gradual. As it was, I wasn't half sure I should have put in all that stuff about his eyes and all… whatever.


	13. Kagome or not Kagome?

Chapter Seventeen: Kagome or not Kagome?

**Disclaimer:** I only own Tetsuya and Kimiko. Please do not take them or abuse them. They are NOT real characters in Rumiko Takahashi's "Inuysaha". If you do steal them I will be very sad. Thank you. Good bye.

**Chapter 17: Kagome or not Kagome?**

"Let go!" Inuyasha's focus was shattered as Kagome suddenly screamed into his ear. She started squirming violently. His eyes snapped from Kagura to her, but nothing was wrong. Thin wisps of her dark hair fell into her face as she thrashed wildly against his hold. She was like an animal in a cage, struggling desperately to get free. She was terrified. "Let me go!" She demanded so loudly that it made his ears ring. He flattened them against his head instinctively, but it didn't help.

"Kagome what are you-"

"I _said_ let **go**!" She shrieked with another violent thrash. It almost like she couldn't hear him. "Let go of me now, you filthy demon! I said let me _go_!" Her eyes suddenly shot up to connect with his. They were so cold. They were full of hate, and fear, and anger… In those few seconds he could tell that she despised him. The thought sunk in slowly like molasses, even Kagome seemed to be moving in slow motion._ 'It's…It's not her…_ _Kagome wouldn't look at me like that_.' Memories of the way she looked when laughed and when she smiled… the way she looked when she looked at him… when she spoke to him… they all flashed into his mind in an instant. And then it all made sense.

He dropped her and switched sword hands from right to left in the span of a second. How could he have been so blind? How could he have not understood why Naraku's scent was all over her? Why she'd denied her own name… or why she had looked at him that way? The real Kagome, _his_ Kagome, would have never looked at him that way. He knew as he stared at her staring back at him that it was a trick. It was Naraku's trick. His rage crashed around inside him like an ocean as he realized that he had fallen for it again. How could he have let himself?

Tetsuigia's tip was pressed against her neck, putting her in serious danger of having her throat slit, and from the look on her face, she knew it. "_Who **are** you_?" he growled as he spoke, making his voice sound rough. He was so angry that he could barely keep himself from just slashing her throat open then and there. Damn that Naraku… How _dare_ he? How **_dare_ **he send someone to impersonate her?

'_Because he knew you would fall for it_.' He told himself silently, mentally pummeling himself. '_He **knew** you would fall for it. Naraku knew she would be the **one thing** that could weaken you_…' He knew those were the reasons, and he hated himself for it.

The demon… or whoever he or she was opened Kagome's mouth to reply, but seemed too scared or surprised to move.

"I've already asked you once and I'm not going to ask you again." He snapped, as he pressed the blade farther into her throat. The Tetsuigia made a very shallow cut with its tip, a thin pink line of blood now ran down the silver edge. "Who_ **are** _you!"

"I…" She breathed deeply, wincing at the pain of the blade. "Am… Sayuri…. Asakura, Sayuri."

Inuyasha moved the blade from the middle of her neck to directly under her chin. His eyes and his voice seemed to threaten her darkly, "Change it."

Kagome frowned, confused, her chin held upward now because of the Tetsuigia. Her face tilted upwards, she looked down her nose to see him. "My name?" She asked quietly, afraid to speak to loudly.

"No, you idiot!" Inuyasha roared. "I don't _care_ about your name or what face you assume, but leave this one ALONE!"

"What are you-" She gasped as the man pressed the sword little harder against her skin. It was barely a difference from before, but she could feel it. "What are you _talking_ about!" She could feel the fear of impending death against her neck, and those captivating golden eyes… they were so angry.

"Change _now_!" Inuyasha demanded. "And don't you _ever_, _**ever** _even _think_ about taking on this form ever again! Do you _hear_ me!"

"I don't know what you're talking about! I can't-"

"Don't!" He cut her off, he sounded almost vicious. "I _know_ he had you take this shape try to get to me." He said, his voice suddenly lowering to a growl. "And if you think that just because you look like her means I won't be able to _kill_ you, you're dead wrong. In fact, it's because of this that you've royally _pissed_ _me off._" His voice suddenly grew quieter, his face looming up into hers. "And If you ever violate her memory like this again, I _swear_ I'll be washing my hands in your filthy blood before you can even blink. Now for the last time," he said, his eyes narrowing. "_Change_! _Shape_!"

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and glared at him with a mask of Kagome's face. It was strange how this demon could imitate her so perfectly… "I _can't_!"

"Do it!" He roared.

"For the last time, I told you, I CAN'T!"

"If you don't want your throat cut, then change your shape, now!"

"I TOLD YOU I _CAN'T_!" She cried, suddenly furious. "If you're so fed up with the way I look, why don't you just _kill_ me already!"

He was almost over the edge… almost. "You asked for it." He said with a snarl as he pulled his sword back, readying himself to cut through the imposter's throat. But as the Tetsuigia started its deadly dive forwards, she gasped, her eyes so wide in fear… that he froze. His hand, no matter how hard he tried to drive it forwards, would not listen. All he could seem to do was stare at her. He knew it was a trick. It _had_ to be a trick, but… he saw so much of Kagome in her.

Kagome had closed her eyes, preparing herself for the pain of being killed. But when she realized that it was taking longer than it should have, she cautiously opened one eye a little to look at him… then the other. Then she began to frown, doing a surprisingly good job of masking the fear he could smell radiating off of her. "_Well_?" She whispered, somewhat defiantly. "You talk big. Where's the backup?"

There it was again. Kagome used to always say that to him whenever he had been bragging. And while he was furious that whoever she or he was had the nerve to try and impersonate her, a small piece of him felt as if he had somehow been given a little bit of her back. And he didn't want to lose that either. He couldn't kill her, despite his rage, because she seemed so much like the real Kagome he had lost a year ago…

"Damn it!" He muttered under his breath as he sheathed his sword again with a metal scraping noise. "You got lucky this time." He said, for some reason unable to meet her eyes.

"What?" She breathed. She could hardly believe it. What had changed his mind?

"I said you got lucky."

"I did?"

"Yeah." He said as he studied the road. "I'm not gonna kill you right away. I'm gonna kill you _after_ fight you."

"Wh-what!"

"You can understand Japanese, can't you?" He asked, his voice icy. "Now fight me," he said, locking himself into combat position, "that's what you came here to do anyway wasn't it?"

"N-no." She said weakly. "I didn't-" he raised an eyebrow, questioning, and it occurred to her that she _had_ come to fight him. Oops. "I mean Naraku asked me to." She said. Inuyasha scoffed at that.

"Nothing new. I see he's still sending out other people to do his dirty work." He said, as if thinking about something nasty. "Feh… still a coward."

At that Kagome became suddenly annoyed. But she wasn't sure if it was because of what he had said, or just the way he had said it. She lifted her head a little higher as she looked at him. "Naraku told me that you're murdering people." She said, raising her fingertips to the cut on her throat. It was bleeding…

"He told you _what_?" Inuyasha made a face that would have seemed comical if she hadn't been scared to death of him. She could practically read his thoughts, they were somewhere between the question 'huh?' and furious outrage.

"That's what he told me." She said. "And he asked me to come and kill you."

"And take on Kagome's shape…" He said absently, still frowning. "Just to get to me… heh…" he laughed a little, but the emotion wasn't behind his eyes. "You've got some nerve, trying to toy with my feelings like that. But then… I guess that always was Naraku's style."

Kagome heard the question start to form in her mind. '_**What** is he talking abo-'_

"Kagome!"

Both Kagome and Inuyasha were torn out of their conversation. Sango was running towards them, breathless, the Hiraikotsu held above her head.

'_What **is** it with these people and giant weapons?'_ Kagome thought to herself, staring at the ridiculously sized boomerang without quite knowing what to make of it. It was huge, even taller than the girl who bore it. It might have even been bigger than Inuyasha's sword.

"Don't." Inuyasha held out his hand to stop her. "It's not Kagome."

"What?" Sango breathed, stopping abruptly and shifting her weight backwards as if readying herself to be attacked. Kagome studied Sango carefully. But didn't recognize her at all. She couldn't help but feel that she should have…

"She's a fake." Inuyasha said coldly. "Naraku sent her."

"He what?" Sango's voice completely changed, suddenly sounding bitter. The older girl stared at Kagome, making the latter shift uncomfortably. Suddenly Sango's grip tightened on her enormous boomerang, her eyes narrowing in disgust. "And I suppose Kohaku is waiting for me somewhere in the forest, isn't he?" Sango asked her.

"Who?"

"Don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about!" Sango's temper flared up without warning. "Is Kohaku alive or isn't he!"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about…" Kagome said honestly. Who was Kohaku? "I…" Kagome started, feeling flustered. "I don't even know him."

"He's only a boy." Sango said. "If he's alive you've seen him at Naraku's palace. And if you haven't…" The slayer's eyes dipped to the ground for only a moment, before abruptly snapping back to Kagome. "Naraku told me a while ago that he had removed the shard in my brother's back that was keeping him alive." Sango said quietly, her voice strangely dangerous. "Is that true?"

"What?"

"Is it!" The exterminator demanded, her hand moving towards the hilt of her sword.

Kagome felt herself begin panic. This woman was going to kill her too. Couldn't she get a break today? She found herself turning to Inuyasha for his help. But the hanyou was looking grimly at Kagome, his eyes hard and uncaring. She realized with a twang of pain that he wasn't going to help her. Wait… why had she even thought was going to in the first place? He was her enemy. She had established this before! Inuyasha stood beside Sango like an ally obviously placing himself on _her_ side. '_That's right. Naraku said that Inuyasha had two friends. But where is the other one_?'

"If you won't answer me, then I suppose I'll just have to kill you." Sango stated matter-of-factly. "Prepare yourself."

"Prepare myself?" Kagome echoed, slightly shocked.

"Die!" Sango was moving towards her faster than Kagome had ever imagined a human being could have. There was no way she could've dodge the slayer's attack… no way in hell. In fact, if Kagura hadn't then chosen to interfere, Sango would have probably killed her. And then there would be no story. .

"Dance of the Blades!" The sorceress's voice echoed through the tiny valley, seeming to even shake the leaves which were bathing in the bright sunlight. Kagome watched as little half moons of light showered down around the three of them. They were like strange clods of snowflakes… only frightening.

The half demon grunted, his arm going up over his head, his red sleeve deflecting the little silver moons, but tearing slightly at the forearm. Sango however, was not so lucky. "Ah!" The slayer cringed, stopping dead in her tracks, sword falling into the dust. The shower of moons was over within seconds, and Sango's right shoulder was bleeding. The cut was crude and deep, Kagome watched in slight shock as red liquid started seeping steadily into the black fabric of the uniform.

"Sango!" Inuyasha lowered his arm and looked at the girl worriedly. He was next to her in a matter of seconds.

"My arm…" Sango said slowly through clenched teeth. She sucked in air, making a hissing noise as she sunk to the ground. "Damn it!"

Kagome started forwards, instinctively, reaching out to help the girl before she stopped herself. What was she thinking? She backed away, having to force herself to leave them alone. Sango had been about to kill her before Kagura had attacked them…

Inuyasha however, had noticed the gesture before Kagome had backed away, looking troubled. He frowned slightly, noticing how conflicted the girl appeared to be. Had she really been reaching out to help them?

Kagura landed down in the dirt beside Kagome. A soft cloud of yellow dust rising up to her ankles as a white feather drifted down to her open palm. She placed it in her hair with one single movement while Kagome watched. Before she knew it she was in the sorceress's face. "Kagura!" She shouted, sounding slightly desperate. "What do you think you're _doing_!"

Kagura leaned back, a look of distain coming over her face. "Saving you, Lady Sayuri." She said tartly, "What did it _look _like I was doing?"

Inuyasha watched as the demon pretending to be Kagome opened her mouth and then closed it again, seemingly torn. Finally she fell silent, defeated and watched Sango worriedly.

'_What is going **on** here?_' He thought silently to himself. '_If she's on Naraku's side, then why does she look so upset?_'

Sango's breath was labored against the pain. She clutched at her bleeding shoulder tightly, her face twisted in discomfort.

"Is she going to be all right?" Kagome asked Kagura softly, trying to make sure that neither Inuyasha or Sango could hear her. She didn't see the way Inuyasha's tears flicked ever so slightly at her words. She didn't know he had super hearing. She couldn't have. She didn't remember.

The hanyou studied her carefully from the corner of his golden eyes. Something was weird about her. But he couldn't quite tell what it was.

"Why should you care about this woman's well being?" Kagura asked loudly. Great. Kagome felt her body tense. Now both Sango _and _Inuyasha knew that she had been asking about it. And if it seemed weird to her, what would _they_ think? "It's not as if the two of you are _friends_." Kagura said carefully, testing her.

"Er… n-no." Kagome said, thrown off guard by the unexpected remark. "We're…" She hesitated, watching the other girl as Sango's dark brown eyes tightened, her face whitening. "We're not." She said.

Inuyasha was watching carefully. Now he knew something was wrong. She was acting way too strangely for his liking.

'_This isn't getting us anywhere._' Kagura thought angrily to herself. She listened, and although she was unable to hear the Samyosho, she thought she knew that they were there.

'_Why are you telling me this, Kanna_?' She could hear herself asking her little sister again.

'_Because you yearn for your freedom. And she is the key to everything…_' (A/N: See chapter 3).

'_My freedom…_' She thought longingly to herself. '_Is it worth the risk?_' She hesitated, knowing that she was taking a huge chance… '_But…_' the wind sorceress thought to herself '_It might be the only way…_' She made up her mind, pushing away her fear.

"Tell me, Sayuri," Kagura said suddenly, her eyes no longer watching her, but instead looking forcefully at Inuyasha. The young man was visibly confused at the sudden demand for eye-contact. "Now that you've seen this man, have any of the memories of your past returned?" She asked, willing Inuyasha to understand. "Or haven't you been able to recall anything about who you are yet?"

"_What_?" Inuyasha felt his breath come up slightly short. She didn't have any memory?

At this point Kagome had been taken by complete surprise. "Uh… no…" She said, trying once again to batter down the stonewall in her mind. But then it always made her feel sort of weak to try and recall her past. "I don't remember… anything." She said regretfully.

There was an extremely long silence. Kagura let everything that had just passed between herself and the girl sink in to Inuyasha's mind. She knew he had been listening. "Hmph." She said after a while when the silence was too long to be natural. "Pity."

Suddenly Inuyasha stood up and stepped forwards. "Hey." He said, sounding strangely emotionless.

Kagome turned and looked at the silver haired hanyou as he produced his sword. "Hit me with one of your arrows." He said, preparing himself for a fight.

"Wh-what?"

Even Kagura seemed to be thrown off guard by the strange request.

"You heard me, wench." Inuyasha said, trying to make her angry. "Shoot me or I'll kill you."

"You're… You're _not_ serious!" Kagome said, sounding slightly frantic.

"Do I _look_ like I'm joking?"

"Kagura," Kagome said, turning to the sorceress. "I can't-"

"HAHH!"

Kagome screamed as she saw a red blur rushing towards her. A lock of her hair dropped to the lightly to the ground, immediately covered by little particles of yellowed dust in the earth. Sango watched carefully. She could tell that Inuyasha had aimed to miss.

Kagome stood stock still, her back painfully straightened before she turned around rigidly to see Inuyasha standing behind her, his sword held at the ready. "Next time I won't miss you." He said, his eyes deadly serious. "Now are you going to defend yourself or what?" Inuyasha demanded. "Shoot me with one of your arrows!"

"You've… You've got to be kidding!" Kagome breathed. She didn't know how to shoot a bow and arrow.

"I warned you!" Inuyasha said, readying himself for another charge. "If you don't shoot I'm going to slice you in two!"

She turned to Kagura desperate. The wind sorceress was watching Inuyasha. She didn't seem to notice Kagome asking for help.

"One!" Inuyasha warned.

Kagome felt her body freeze.

"Two!"

'_Oh my God_…'

"Three!"

He was coming at her again, his eyes watching her, calculating distances and timing to precise results. He knew what he was doing, and his voice was replayed in her head. '_Next time won't miss you…_' She couldn't bring herself to move. She was so afraid. Inuyasha held up his massive sword and it erupted into golden light.

"WIND SCAR!" CLANG! Kagome watched in wonder as the arrow ricocheted off Inuyasha's blade and embedded itself in the dirt, tip down. And then, quite suddenly, the sword in Inuyasha's hand shrunk down to life-size before her very eyes. Yup. There was no denying it. The Tetsuigia was actually shrinking, all the while humming softly as the metal recovered from Kagome's arrow.

The priestess herself was still in shock. She hadn't even realized she had shot the arrow. It had just happened. One minute she was standing there, ready to be sliced and diced, and then the next her hand was flying to her quiver of arrows, stringing the ebony bow and letting it loose. The silence screamed at her as everyone became rigidly immobile, their eyes watching her carefully, making her feel incredibly small and embarrassed.

Everyone had seen the bright trail of light that had enveloped her arrow and streamed through the air behind it. It was a holy light. And although she didn't know it, it was also the symbol of Kikyo's sacred arrow… Kagome's arrow.

"Kaogme." Inuyasha breathed, slamming the Tetsuigia back into its hilt. Not seeming to care that it had been rendered useless. "It _is_ you!"

"What?" She said softly to herself, still unable to recover. "… What!"

"That's your arrow! I know it!" He was suddenly face to face with her, staring intently, and seeming to have lost _all_ respect for personal space. "I'd recognize it anywhere!"

She stepped away from the overly excited hanyou, confused and a little afraid. Was he going to make another threat to kill her again?

"Kagome, listen to me." Inuaysha said, reaching forwards and grabbing both of her hands, ignoring the way she instantly blushed and tried to back away from him. "You name is _not_ Sayuri!" He said forcefully, as if he thought that the sharper his words were the more she would be inclined to believe them. "Whatever Naraku had been telling you is a lie!"

That's what made her snap. Instantly her anger was boiling over the rim, taking even her by surpise. "Stop lying." She said, yanking her hands from his, remembering exactly who it was that she was dealing with. "Don't you dare say something like that to me!"

"I'm saying it because it's true!" Inuyasha cut her off, seeming to want to take a hold of her again somehow, making her stumble backwards. "He's done something to you to make you believe your someone else!"

"What are you _talking _about!" She shouted, defensive, "Naraku would never do _anything _like that to me!"

"Yes, he would."

Kagome turned around to see the girl, Sango, struggling to an unstable stand, blood dripping from her fingertips as she stood hunched in the road. "Naraku always does things like that," she said, her face downcast and focused on the road. "He's _always _taking advantage of people who are weaker than him." Her liquid brown eyes lifted to meet Kagome's, imploring her to understand… to believe. But Kagome couldn't. She couldn't betray Naraku. He loved her. She _knew_ he did. "Kagome," Sango said, her voice so incredibly gentle. "You _have_ to believe us… don't you even recognize? Can't you even tell that Naraku's been lying to you?"

"No!" Kagome yelled, backing away from her. "Naraku wouldn't lie to me!"

Kagrua rolled her eyes at that. If only she knew…

"And what makes you so damn sure you can trust him!" Inuyasha demanded angrily, the whole situation too frustrating for him to even keep his voice even. "What makes you so God damned sure that he's _not_ lying to you, Kagome?"

She opened her mouth to reply… but she couldn't speak. She was so afraid. What if they were right? What if they… '_No._' She shook her head fiercely, trying to shake the horrible thoughts out of her head. '_They're not right. They're **not**! If they were…_' her stomach twisted at the thought. '_If they were it would be…_' "You aren't right!" She screamed at Inuyasha before whirling around to face Sango. "Neither of you are! Naraku's the one who found me, and he's the one who cares about me!" She screamed, never admitting to the fact that a part of herself had been unsure. "_You're_ the liar!" She screamed, as if she said it loud enough, it would force it to be true. And yet, even though she was trying to believe herself with everything she had, there was something squirming inside her stomach, nagging at the back of her mind… she didn't know what it was. But she didn't like it.

"Kag-"

"Don't call me that!" She whirled around to face Inuyasha, unaware of the tears streaming down her face. "That's _not _my name!"

"It _is_!" Inuyasha shouted back with just as much anger. "You _know_ it is! If you didn't you wouldn't be crying!"

"I-" Kagome stopped in mid sentence. '_Crying?_' Slowly she lifted her fingertips to her cheeks. They were warm and wet. She _was_ crying. '_What… what is this?_' She asked herself as she stared at her glistening fingertips, little droplets streaking down her face now and landing in her open palm. '_Why am I crying like this? I'm not… I'm not sad_… _am I_?'

"Kagome." She jumped, Inuyasha had moved closer than she thought. "Look at me, Kagome." He said firmly, his golden eyes not allowing her to look away. "_Look _at me and tell me you don't recognize me." She bit her lower lip, trying her best just to hold herself together. "Tell me you don't feel anything when you look at me." He said softly, she was sure she was the only one who could hear.

"I…" She forced herself to speak, feeling herself start to break down. "I don't feel anything…" she said softly, willing herself to finish, "when I look at you."

She was lying. She _did_ feel something. She felt _a lot_ of something, but she was too afraid of it to try and figure out what it was. Or even admit that she felt it at all.

Inuyasha was either a great actor, or he had actually allowed her to see his face when he was genuinely hurt. It was only for a grand total of three seconds. But she still saw it. She saw it so clearly that she found herself wishing she hadn't said it at all. But then, an instant after she had thought she saw the weakness, his face hardened over like a mask. "Are you lying?" he asked hardly, and she could tell he was on the edge of losing it.

She couldn't bring herself to say anything. Part of her was screaming to say 'YES! YES YES YES! GOD YES, I _AM _LYING! AND I AM SO SORRY! JUST STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!" But the other part was too proud, and too scared to allow it.

She found he was looking at her so intensely, searching for something again. "… I…" she breathed unable to continue. "I'm not."

**A/N**: Ok! (cheery smile) time to stop! This chapters just too long! Hahahah! … ha… ha… hey…. Why are you all looking at like that? What… what are you doing? AHH! NO STAY AWAY! Just kidding. Anyway I didn't really want to end it here. Its just that the chapters so dang long. I couldn't stand to drag it out any longer! But rest assured I know exactly what's gonna happen next. So you wont have to wait long ok? Ok.

**Also...  
**THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS! THE REVIEWS ARE WHAT KEEPS ME GOING! (hint: the nicer the review the quicker the chapter update.) Anyway, I really do luv you all for reviewing. Oh and Mia: My special thanks to you! That is seriously the best thing i have ever had anyone say about my wiriting! thank you! Thank you! (sob sob). and HelikaAkileh, just wondering, whichpart made youthat emotional? And lastly,its nicetoknow you're out thercrazylady123, i saw your name when i looked at MMH's stat'sa while ago, its so nice to get areview from you! Onceagain,thank you ALL so so SOOOOO much!

xox  
nanirian


	14. Not again

**Chapter Fourteen: Not again**

A/N: Ok, so by the end of this chapter, many of you will be mad at me. For this I only have one thing to say to you: I AM SO SORRY! BUT IT _HAD_ TO HAPPEN! IT JUST _HAD_ TO! Please forgive me… And I'm sure that by now all of you who are reading this are like… "oh shit" well yeah… sorry. And by the way, I'm not really sure if this chapter's going to be as good as the rest. I'm rushing it here.

Disclaimer: The story… that' s mine. But Inuyasha? (takes a deep breath) NOT MINE! (runs away sobbing)

Previously: _Inuyasha was either a great actor, or he had actually allowed her to see his face when he was genuinely hurt. It was only for a grand total of three seconds. But she still saw it. She saw it so clearly that she found herself wishing she hadn't said it at all. But then, an instant after she had thought she saw the weakness, his face hardened over like a mask. "Are you lying?" he asked hardly, and she could tell he was on the edge of losing it. _

_She couldn't bring herself to say anything. Part of her was screaming to say 'YES! YES YES YES! GOD YES, I AM LYING! AND I AM SO SORRY! JUST STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!" But the other part was too proud, and too scared to allow it. _

_She found he was looking at her so intensely, searching for something again. "… I…" she breathed unable to continue. "I'm not." _

… **Not Again …**

The silver haired hanyou was looking at her as if she had stabbed him in the stomach with a rusty knife. And it was that very look on his face that made Kagome feel as if he were stabbing _her_ with the knife. Needless to say it was a painful experience for both of them. But Kagome couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth. She just couldn't. She would feel so much safer if she could even understand the reason why. The seconds dragged on forever, and all the while her stomach twisting itself into complicated knots as he continued staring at her that way… with those unbearable golden eyes. And then finally, he recovered, his face shaping into a glare, which to Kagome, was much easier to deal with than his previous expression. He opened his mouth, no doubt to yell at her when suddenly he froze, his eyes growing wide. He was still staring right at her, just like before, but now he wasn't really seeing her… he was… sniffing.

"Do you smell that?" He asked softly, obviously very much aware of something she was not.

'_Uh… no._' Kagome thought to herself, but didn't say anything. This guy just got weirder and weirder.

Suddenly he was reaching for his sword, but stopped, seeming to remember that the Tetsuigia had been nullified by Kagome's arrow only a few seconds ago. He cursed bitterly before turning around and eyeing the forest that lay on the other side of the dirt road. "It's him." He said grimly, placing himself in front of Kagome protectively, though she didn't realize it at the time. "It's Naraku."

Kagura felt her heart skip a beat beneath her chest. '_Naraku_?' She fought for control over her body, which was screaming at her to run. '_Does he know that I've betrayed him again_?' She asked herself, racking her brain for the possibilities. '_Is he going to kill me this time_?'

Sango on the other hand was having exactly the opposite reaction. It took all her willpower and the pain of her wounded shoulder to keep herself from grabbing the Hiraikotsu and throwing it into the forest, hoping that somehow she would hit him. While Inuyasha was waiting, his golden eyes studying every shadow and catching every rustle within the density of leaves. Naraku was lurking somewhere in the darker pools of shade. He could smell the rotten, minty scent slowly becoming stronger.

"Feh." He smirked after cracking his knuckles maliciously, making Kagome jump behind him. "Why don't you just come out already, Naraku?" He asked the seemingly still forest. "Or are you too afraid to show yourself when you're out numbered?"

Kagome watched the forest, waiting, but nothing was happening. She glanced up at the red clothed man standing infront of her, seriously considering for a moment that he had lost it, when a definite rustle broke the thickening silence, snapping her attention back to the forest. There was a strange whiteness that was slowly emerging from the shadows of the vines and bushes. Upon seeing it Inuyasha instinctively seemed to widen his stance a bit, preparing to both attack Naraku and protect Kagome. He would be damned if he let anything happen to her again, memory or no memory.

Behind him, Kagome watched intently as the indefinite white spot in the forest seemed to come into focus as it drew nearer. Finally she was able to make out a lumpy figure beneath a baboon pelt. She stared at the figure in confusion. There was no way to tell if it was Naraku. Time seemed slightly warped somehow as the figure finally emerged from the edge of the forest and slowly sat down on the side of the road, squatting in the grass and looking out at them through large black eye sockets. It was all sort of disturbing for her, though she couldn't explain why.

For a few seconds everyone was silent, even Inuyasha, and then the baboon finally spoke. Kagome looked startled and was forced to blink once or twice as she recognized it as Naraku's voice.

"Inuyasha." He said slowly from under the pelt, as if being cautious. "Still alive I see?"

"Feh. Yeah, that's right. More than I'll be able to say for you in about a few minutes…"

"Minutes?" The man asked, seemingly amused. "All I need is a matter of mere seconds." He turned then, so that the baboon's face was regarding Kagura, its cruel, black eyes sockets as empty and menacing as ever. "You are to bring Sayuri back to safety. The plan has failed."

At that Inuyasha scoffed before lunging forwards. "Oh no you _don't_!" Inuyasha had disappeared from in front of her before Kagome could even realize it. But as soon as she got over the initial shock, she saw his red figure racing towards Naraku. "As if I'd ever let the likes of you touch her again!" He yelled angrily, his right hand raising up into the air.

"No!" Kagome gasped, sudden fear plunging into her, "Don't!" She reached out with her hand as if to stop him, but it had already been done. Inuyasha's claws raked the head from the body in a jagged trail of golden light. The three spectators watched in silent shock as it flew up into the air, leaving the body to crumple lifelessly into the grass. Unfortunately for Kagome, it then proceeded to land at her very feet and then roll unevenly up against the hem of her dark blue kimono, mud and dirt from the road now clinging to the pristine, white fur. She watched in petrified horror as the mask fell away from the face, revealing none other than Naraku. He stared up at her with an eerie stillness… a dead stillness, something that she had never seen before, let alone on a familiar face. His milky, slate blue eyes were wide and blank, unseeing as they stared intently up at her. His mouth was slightly open. He was obviously dead. And she couldn't look away.

She felt herself slowly slip into shock. Her hands pressed over her mouth tightly as if to keep herself from screaming, her knuckles were pressed white, and her body begging to shake. She continued to watch, not understanding, as the head before her began to fall apart, disintegrating into dust, and all the while her heart was jolting in uneven beats of shock and terror. Soon all that was left of the severed head was a small wooden knob and a pile of dust, which was quickly lost in the muddy road. But by then Kagome was mentally gone.

The miko was only vaguely aware of the fact that someone's hand was wrapping around her wait and tugging her forwards roughly. She didn't know who it was; she could barely remind herself to breathe. Unknowingly, she allowed herself to be hoisted up off the ground and carried ungracefully in the air. Her light brown eyes were wide and still focused on the spot where the supposed man of her dreams's head had disintegrated, unable to tear away. The next thing she knew she was on that same white feather again, probably about fifty feet high off the ground.

And someone was screaming.

Who was it?

She drifted half way back into reality, and vaguely she recognized the voice. It was Inuyasha. "No! No! Give her back! Dammit! Give her back!" she heard the words, but to her, they were just sounds… incomprehensible sounds… meaningless; she couldn't understand any of them.

She watched, still numbed as the small red figure below her drew a useless Tetsuigia and waved it around in the air. Beside her, there was laughter. "That useless hanyou," someone said, apparently amused. "Trying to summon the Wind Scar when he know it has been rendered ineffective." There was a long pause and then Kagura began speaking again, but Kagome could only half hear her. "Snap out of it, Kagome. That wasn't even the _real_ Naraku."

Kagome blinked and frowned, her mind working slowly to replay what she thought she had just heard: _"Snap out of it Kagome… Snap out of it… **Kagome**…"_ Slowly the younger girl looked up at Kagura with wide, fearful eyes. The sorceress frowned back down at her, obviously confused. "What?"

'_Did she just call me…_'

"Kagome!"

Kagome snapped out of her thoughts when someone else called out that name again. She tried to find the source… and then could only stare dumbly when she saw what it was. It was a cat. Off in the distance now, but coming steadily closer, was a huge black and sandy-blonde colored cat. And it was on fire. Huge flaming balls of orangey-red fire blossoming up from beneath its black-socked paws. Whatever it was, it was galloping over the sky towards her. And the girl on its back, Sango, was calling out her name. The sight did nothing to help Kagome pull herself out of her already shell-shocked state.

"Hmph." Kagura said a bit of distain evident in her voice. "What a bother."

There was a small noise of a fan opening, and soon Kagrau was standing up next to Kagome. The younger girl watched, petrified and confused, and unable to do anything. "Dance of the Dragon!" There was a discreet wave of a fan, and huge winds were suddenly ripping past her face, making it difficult to breathe. And somewhere behind them the sound of pain echoed through the valley. The last thing Kagome could really manage to make out through the slashing current of wind was a blur of black and sandy-colored fur falling to the ground where the red figure was still screaming. But Kagome didn't understand it. She didn't feel the teardrops start to fall again as the back of her mind listened to the alien sounds of Inuyasha screaming. She didn't understand them or have the slightest idea of what they meant. She couldn't understand that they were for her. At the moment she didn't understand anything.

**A/N**: Ok… time for explanations. Firstly: yeah I know, it was pitifully short. But I've already started the next chapter. This was just a convenient stopping place. And secondly, (And more importantly): IT IS SO NOT MY FAULT THAT KAGOME AND INUYASHA GET SEPARATED AGAIN. It's the story's fault. Seriously, believe it or not I can't really control what happens sometimes. The ideas just pop into my head. I didn't want this to happen. At all. But it sort of had to. Anyway the point of it all is that you shouldn't freak out or rip out any hair or anything. Because they're back together again by the end of the next chapter. Promise. Now all I have to do is finish smoothing it out and then it'll be ready to post. So once again: DO NOT FREAK OUT! I hate it when people do that. Next chapter's coming soon.


	15. The Fall Out

**Chapter 15: The Fall Out**

**A/N:** Alright here we go again. Next chapter next chapter. They're coming up really fast aren't they? Anyway here it is. (By the way it has not been read over. Sorry I don't have the time)

**Disclaimer**: I only own Tetsuya and Kimiko. So there:P

The Fall Out:

"You failed me."

"… _I'm sorry."_

"_You didn't even wound him." _

"… _I know."_

"_You **know**?_ _Then, do you know how many people will **die** today because of what you've done? Or rather… what you **haven't** done?"_

"… I'm sorry."

"_You betray them." _

"…_I know."_

"_And you betray me."_

"… _I'm sorry."_

_There was a tired sigh. "I know you are." And then a pause, "Tell me what happened."_

"… _I… I don't know." _

"_Did he hurt you?"_

"_No."_

"_Did he hurt **anyone** else?"_

"_No."_

"_And you're alright?"_

"_Yes…" She said softly before hesitantly meeting his eyes, ashamed and guilty and young looking. "Naraku… I'm so sorry." _

"I know… but just… just go to sleep for now. We'll…" he looked at her tiredly, trying to hide that he was upset. "We'll deal with this… in the morning. Good night, Sayuri."

"_Good night, Naraku."_

Kagome replayed the conversation over and over in her mind as she walked down the dimly lit hallways. It had happened about an hour ago, and only mere minutes after she had returned from the "battle" with Inuyasha. She had been dreading every moment of waiting to see him. She could practically see the look on his face already; she knew he would be disappointed in her. And she hated it.

Only after Kagura had finally been able to explain that the man who was slain in the road was only a lifeless duplicate of Naraku, and not the real thing, had Kagome been able to calm down. Though she was still shaken by the idea of Naraku practicing that kind of magic. She hadn't known that he had those kinds of powers, and now that she did, she wondered what else she didn't know about him… and then felt guilty for wondering.

The jumble of pent up emotions inside her only served to sharpen her feeling of uneasiness. As it was, it had taken her a full half hour to come out of the shock of seeing the puppet being beheaded, and to be honest, she was still a little shaken… she was shaken about the whole thing. For a moment on the road she thought that she had lost him… him, the one connection to herself… the one who knew who she was, the one who cared the most about her, and the only person she could really trust. If she ever did lose him, she knew that she would have lost herself… lost all her chances at ever finding the memories of her past. And at the moment, nothing was more precious than her past. Without it, she didn't have the faintest inkling as to who she was… and that was the most frightening thing on Earth.

"You should be in bed right now."

Kagome blinked and looked up… strangely unsurprised. There was a tall figure standing in the dimly lit hallway, midnight shadows clinging thickly to the folds of his navy blue kimono and his eyes. "Tetsuya…" She said softly, looking at him as if he were a dream. "I couldn't sleep."

He stared at her for a long time, or at least he seemed to be, the dark shadows were so thick around his eyes that she couldn't see them. But that wasn't what bothered her. What bothered her was his silence. It was long, and deadly… cold. It unnerved her.

Then, he stepped into the light of a nearby torch, the shadows shrinking away and clinging now to his knees, which were still shrouded in darkness. She could see his bright eyes with perfect clarity, now and she almost wished he would move back into the shadows again. Because they were more unnerving than the silence. Their bright green intensity seemed to be boring into her with an incredible force. She wondered maybe if he was trying to look through her. Or maybe he was just trying to freak her out, in which case he was doing a great job. "He killed my mother." He said suddenly, his voice hard.

Kagome blinked, caught of guard for what had to be the billionth time that day. "Wh-what?" She whispered, her voice coming out weaker than she intended. For some reason, the only person she could think that he was talking about was Naraku.

"About Inuyasha." Tetsuya said curtly, his expression gradually turning into a glare. "Did you even _try_ to fight him today?"

Kagome stared in shock. "Yes…" She said, sounding unsure, even to herself. " Of… of course I did."

"Really?" Tetsuya asked cutting into her stuttering tone with sharp clarity. He was looking at her seriously, as if prompting her to be honest with him. "Did you try your best to defeat him today?"

'_No_.' " I - "

"Please, Sayuri," He said quickly, cutting her off, "just tell me that you at least tried." He said. His tone was still deadly serious, shooting down any hope she had left that this was some sort of cruel joke, Tetsuya had never acted like this before. He was being… mean. "Just tell me." He said, his voice becoming faster and less cold. "Just tell me that you did and I'll…" He faded, his voice wavering. "It will be ok… if you just tell me you _tried_ to kill him." He said, somewhat weakly. "It'll… It'll be ok… if you did."

She opened her mouth to say yes. Of course she had. But something about the way he was looking at her kept her from lying. She couldn't lie. Not to someone like Tetsuya. "No." She said softly, a little afraid of his reaction. "I didn't."

He blinked those hard green eyes and looked at her, for a moment his face growing stony before he made a visible effort to relax again. "Why?" He asked, his voice too soft for her to barely hear.

"I… I don't know." She said lamely. "I couldn't." She said, stepping closer to him, getting the feeling that somehow he was drawing back from her even though he wasn't moving. "I couldn't do it when I saw him…. I was scared." She tried to defend herself, which for some reason, just made her feel worse. "And… its just that…" she tried to express something to him… something she hadn't been able to get across to anyone, not even Naraku. "I just couldn't… see any… evil… in him."

"You couldn't see… any evil." Tetsuya echoed slowly, his face almost blank.

She could feel the tension. "I tried to." She said quickly, stepping closer to him so that now they were only inches apart. "I tried to! I tried!" She insisted. "I wanted to see the evil, but, Tetsuya, he didn't do anything to me. He never hurt-"

"Do you _know_ who Inuyasha is?" Tetsuya asked suddenly, cutting her off as if maybe he had never been listening, as if maybe he had stopped listening to her before she even had had her chance to try and explain. His copper-green eyes were challenging her to understand… they angry. "Do you know what he's _done_ to people!"

"But he didn't do anything to _anyone_ today!" Kagome said suddenly, as if somehow, that would justify that she had let him go.

"He _killed_ my _mother_!" Tetsuya roared, for the first time since Kagome had met him, he was completely enraged. "He murdered her! In her own _home_! I listened to it! I listened to him take _everything_ I had away from me, and you just _let_ him – you! You! … " His voice cracked and he trailed, at a loss for words but still fuming with rage, and also… unspeakably sad. "You let him…" He whispered, his voice shaking. She could tell from the way it had cracked when he had been yelling at her, and how it had sounded when he had whispered just then that he had allowed himself to cave in on the inside. Cheerful, helpful, strong Tetsuya had come within inches of losing it. Maybe he already had.

She could see the little boy inside the man… he was looking out at her from inside those furious green eyes, pleading to her to help him somehow with the pain…the incredible pain. He was the little boy who was still hiding in a closet, listening to the sounds of his mother being slaughtered… by Inuyasha. Slowly the horror sunk in. The day when Tetsuya told her about his mother returned to her slowly… "killed by a demon"… She felt her lips part a little as she stared at him… she hadn't realized that Inuyasha had been the demon… "Tetsuya, I'm…" she reached out with her hand to touch his shoulder before hesitating and then letting it drop. "I'm sorry."

There was a long silence. Kagome felt the guilt begin to seep into her body... and it hurt her. "I'm sorry." She whispered again. "I'm sorry." She couldn't seem to say anything else. Every time she opened her mouth the words just popped out, unable to b controlled. "I'm sorry." And she hated herself for it, because she knew that this time sorry wasn't enough.

Finally Tetsuya inhaled deeply, closing his eyes tightly and clenching his jaw shut as if to keep himself from saying anything more. Finally he exhaled, seeming to relax. "It's… ok." He said slowly. "It's not your fault." When he opened his eyes the little boy was gone. And now all that was there was the man, the shielded, protected man, who didn't want her help.

She could tell he didn't mean it. She could tell from the way he looked at her that he blamed her. He blamed her for everything, and he wasn't ever going to forgive. How could he? She had let the man who had killed his mother and his father get away… again. "Tetsuya," she started, but was cut short as he turned away from her and strode down the hall. As she watched him go, her mouth opened and then slowly closed again as she tried desperately to say something to him.

"I… I'm sorry!" She finally blurted out as he rounded the corner in the dim light. She ran after him, the guilt driving her to catch up and say something; do something; anything that could possibly allow him to begin to forgive her. Anything to help that little boy who was still crying in a closet… listening. "Tetsuya!" But he was gone. Only a long stretch of empty hallway was there for her. She felt an acid-sick feeling spread through her stomach and then condense inside the back of her throat, making her want to throw up. "I'm sorry…" She said weakly one more time before turning and trying to find her way back to her own room.

**… Meanwhile …**

'_Damn that Naraku…_' Inuyasha cursed to himself as he tore through the forest, his feet barely touching the moist carpet of crushed leaves and pine scented soil. '_If he thinks that this is the end of it… he's wrong… he's **dead wrong! I** **won't** let it end this way._' He grit his teeth together to try and contain his anger, feeling the way the grinded fiercely in his skull. '_I won't_…'

"Are you _sure _it was a good idea to leave Miroku behind?" Sango asked worriedly as Kilala pulled up beside him, the heat from the cat-demon's flames making the skin on his face tighten with the heat. However, they also served as torches to help light their way, although Inuyasha didn't need it. He was too mad to need to know where he was going. So what if he hit a tree? He'd go through it. He didn't care about the pain… Fortunately, though, Kilala's orange flame danced on the tree trunks and forest floor around them, and the rest of the world was lost in thick shadows; the moon could not pierce through the thick net of leaves above them.

"We didn't have a choice." Inuyasha said bluntly, running a bit faster, the cool wind he created smoothing across his face and plastering back his silver hair. "He's still unconscious from the venom."

That didn't help. The slayer was worried. She was very worried.There was a long period in time in which all that could be heard was the rushing of air and the rapid tapping of Inuyasha's toes hitting the leaves beneath him. Then finally, she spoke up again, her poison-shielding mask, a piece of carefully-crafted iron that fit over her nose and mouth, muffling her voice and making it sound deeper than it really was. "But what if-"

"He'll be _fine_, Sango." Inuyasha interrupted forcefully, somewhat to her annoyance. "I asked that little girl, Kimiko or whatever her name is, to take care of him." She could tell he was impatient, but that didn't mean she wasn't just as irritated at the way he had snapped at her. He of all people should understand what it was that she was feeling, he worried more about Kagome than she or Miroku worried about each other combined… at least when she was alive he had. Then she suddenly realized that Kagome was alive, and she could have slapped herself for falling back into the old habbit of thinking that the girl was dead… she was alive…and they were going to find her soon.

Inuyasha knew Sango was worried about Miroku, and so was he… a little. But mostly all he was worried about now was Kagome… As it was he could barely hold onto the few traces of her scent that he could detect. But he wasn't going to let himself loose it, he was never going to let himself loose it. He was going to find her. He didn't care what he had to do.

**…Back at Naraku's Palace…**

The single shaft of silver moonlight streamed through her window and washed Kagome's face with a pale, white glow, illuminating specs of feather-dust that floated lazily through the air. She stared at the large semi-circle that loomed gracefully up in the sky, so still and serene… so… peaceful… so the exact opposite of what she was feeling inside.

How had she allowed herself to mess up so badly? To mess up _everything_? She turned over on her cot, her stomach still churning in her gut, constantly reminding her that she had let everyone down. That she had let the murderer of Tetsuya's mother get away… she had let the slaughterer of her own people get away…

She frowned and turned her face down into the pillow, her fingers gripping into the softness as she mentally pummeled herself, suppressing a scream.

"_He **killed **my **mother**! He **murdered** her! In her own **home**!"_

Kagome cringed… she had let everyone down… and they had been counting on her… how could she? By now the guilt was crushing her, threatening to suffocate… to strangle her… And as if that wasn't enough, she as also thinking about the fact that with Inuyasha still alive, she and Naraku could never be together…

She felt the guilt, still festering inside her start to carve out a hollow place in her heart. It ached so badly she wanted to cry again. But the tears did not come… she was too tired to cry again. Maybe she was all cried out.

And as she lay there, painfully attuned to her own pain, she became aware of a feeling that someone was watching her. Slowly she lifted her face out of the pillow and turned to look over her shoulder… but there was no one. She shook her head, shaking off the nerves, and buried it in her pillow once more. If only she could just get to sleep…

**… Somewhere Deep Inside the Castle…**

Naraku's room was quiet and strange feeling. The electric energy in the air made the tiny hairs on the back of Kagura's neck stand as she entered. A cool sweat broke over her head. And she was stirred by a feeling of… restlessness. She frowned a little as she recognized what was putting her entire body on edge. Anxiously she shifted, drawing her fan and holding it against her chest. Something was going on. And she had a fairly good idea of what it was. But she hoped that it wouldn't go wrong… she just hoped desperately that just this once… something wouldn't go wrong.

"Kagura." A cool voice made her jump in surprise. She whipped around to see Naraku sitting on the small wooden step in front of his sliding door. His now slate blue eyes were more intense than usual… maybe it was because of the way the steel blue moonlight reflected off the silvery baboon pelt wrapped loosely around his shoulders. He met her stare grimly.

"Master." She bowed slightly, her hair falling towards the floor as she acknowledged him properly, all the while trying her best to hide the bitter resent she felt towards him.

"We wait for your sister, Kagura." Naraku ignored the suspicious look that Kagura was giving him with her sharp scarlet eyes. "Very soon we shall move again."

"Move?"

"Yes… because of Inuyasha." Naraku said, the corner of his lip twisting downwards in disgust. "He is following the girl's scent… and I cannot hide it from him."

"He seems more determined that usual to track us." Kagura said, raising an eyebrow at her master while trying to hide a smirk. "He has never been able to hold onto a scent for this long before."

Naraku didn't reply. He merely sat there, brooding, his face a sickly pale.

"Perhaps it was not such a good idea to provoke him with the girl, after all." Kagura said still with a smirk, eyes now dancing. Instantly she regretted it. "AH!" In a matter of seconds she was collapsed on the floor, choking on her own breath, her body was shuddering violently. Her fan skidded away from her reaching hand, which trembled like spiders. "What are you-?" She gasped, trying just to breathe without the pain.

"Do _not_ mock me, Kagura." Naraku said icily. She looked at him, her hand clutching at her chest where the sudden and unbearable pain had come from. Her scarlet eyes widened when she saw… in his hand was a soft, pulsing heart. Her heart. Thin trails off blood leaking from the tissue and staining the flesh on his hand. And Kagura found herself powerless to do anything except stare in shock. Her heart… he was holding her heart. It was right there… just beyond her reach. Her freedom. The _only_ thing that kept her bound to this monster… the only god damned thing… but it was still in _his_ hands.

Then she managed to notice a small puncture wound in the upper left-hand chamber, the moonlit blood pumping from it steadily, no doubt an injury he had just inflicted on it to cause her pain. "Let me remind you, sorceress, that I _still_ hold _this_." Naraku said, indicating to the pulsing flesh in his hands. "And I can dispose of both you and it at any time I like." He was standing over her now, his shadowy figure blocking out the light… it scared her shitless, but she would never let him see. "Do _not _test me." He said darkly.

"As you wish." She gasped raggedly, the pain still screaming. "Master Naraku." And just like that the pain was gone.

"Inuyasha is too close." Naraku said, turning away and sitting down again on the wooden step. "We must move the castle again… tonight."

'_Damn…_' Kagura thought bitterly to herself as she took her fan from the floor and pushed herself to a shaky stand. '_So much for hoping something goes right…_'

**… Back in Kagome's Room…**

It was there. That feeling that she couldn't get rid of. Something felt… wrong. What was it? Kagom kicked the soft sheets from her body in frustration and stood up. It was this room… there was something in this room… she couldn't' shake the feeling that something in the room was wrong… very wrong. What _was_ it? Was someone _in there_ with her? She stood slowly and turned in a small circle, watching the shadows carefully for any movement. She tried in vain to shake it off… but she couldn't. It was gnawing inside her stomach… and it was getting stronger… but _what was it_! She felt herself begin to panic.

**…And Back to the Two Energizer-Bunny-Runners…**

"Inuyasha are you _sure_ you know what you're doing!"

"Dammit! Yes, already! How many times are you going to _ask_ me that!" He yelled in frustration. Inuyasha had been able to track Kagome out of the woods and now was running through a wild meadow, his feet kicking up the soft soil like a jackrabbit digging itself a den. But her scent was still so faint… he wasn't even sure if it was real anymore… maybe it was only a figment of his imagination. But damn it if he wasn't going to let that get in his way. He wasn't going to let anything get in his way.

"I'm worried!"

He fought down a harsh growl, raking through his mind, trying desperately to think of what Kagome would say to him if she were there right now. Probably something along the lines of: "calm down, Inuyasha. Sango's your _friend_ remember? And besides, you can't reallyblame her for worrying, can you?" But it was so much easier to listen to her when she was actually there.

"Then just go back if you're worried about that lecherous bastard!" He snapped angrily. "_I'll_ find Kagome on my own!"

Sango gritted her teeth. When he put it like that, it made her feel as if she were cheating out on her best friend… but Miroku was still sick and paralyzed. He was unconscious… at least they knew Kagome was _alive_, now. Or at least she had been earlier that morning. But Sango wasn't even sure Inuyasha knew where he was going anymore.

Then it suddenly came to the distracted slayer's attention how heavily Kilala was breathing. Beneath her the demon was begging to shake slightly, her muscles no doubt were aching. Sango couldn't blame her either, they must have been running around the countryside like this for at least six hours now. (**A/N:** See I told you, Energizer-Bunny-Runners… the two of them!) And she had ridden Kilala the entire way… it was the only way for her to physically be able to keep up with Inuyasha. Sango stroked the cat-demon's neck with worry. It wouldn't be long before her beloved Kilala would need to rest… or else she would collapse into the ground, twitching. Inuyasha however, showed no signs of dying down any time soon. Or ever for that matter. "_Inuyasha_!" She called out irritably. "Slow _down_!"

"Can't!" Was the rough reply.

"Do you even _know _where you're going anymore!" The Slayer demanded angrily.

He threw an annoyed look at her over his shoulder, his golden eyes making her stomach twist in fear for only a moment. "For the last time, dammit! YES!" He roared angrily. "And if you ask me that question one more time I'll – OOPMH!"

Sango blinked in surprise as Inuyasha's body jolted and then ricocheted off nothing. Kilala halted abruptly and watched as well as the hanyou's body traveled in a long airborne arch and then disappeared in the chest-high grass with a solid 'thud'. Sango stared for a few moments before slowly dismounting Kilala, her hands lingering on the cat-demon's back as she looked at the patch of grass in which Inuyasha had disappeared. It was suspiciously still…

"…. Inuyasha?"

**…In the Rainy Village…**

It was dark, and the stars were bright. Half a moon hung over the little damp village in the valley. A frog hidden in the brush croaked quietly, chirping in a rhythm that stirred Miroku from his poison-induced slumber. Though he was still drowsy… his limbs thick-feeling from the venom of the Samyosho.

His violet eyes slowly drifted open and he peered wearily at a straw thatched ceiling, thick with shadows of the night, making it even harder for him to clarify exactly where he was. "Hmm… curious…" he said softly to himself, realizing he must have been in some sort of hut. Then, something small moved from his right, barely stirring in the shadows. He tried to roll over to see it more clearly but his body would not respond. Apparently he was still paralyzed. "Sango?" He called quietly, his voice raspy. "… or possibly, though slightly less preferred: … Inuyasha?"

There was a silence. And then: "They're not here right now."

Miroku blinked at the unfamiliar voice. Soon a pair of bright green eyes were gazing into his, steadily and unafraid… and innocent. He recognized vaguely that the young sound present in the person's voice must have meant that it belonged to a child… how strange.

"Hello?"

"Hi."

The silence was thick… maybe hew as dreaming. "Who is this?"

"My name's Kimiko. The funny man with the ears asked me to take care of you while they went somewhere."

"Funny man… with the ears?" Miroku echoed softly. Didn't most men have ears, funny or not? Perhaps the child was referring to a stand-up comedian or something of the sort with unfortunately grotesque and disfigured ears…. though that would be a rather peculiar quality with which to be identified… especially by a child… but, oh… wait… "You mean Inuyasha?" The dazed monk asked, getting no response.

"He hasn't told me his name."

Miroku smirked. Definitely Inuyasha. Then he sighed, tired. Damn the venom had slowed his senses… imagine… he had been thinking of a comedian with disfigured ears…

"The funny-looking man said they'd be back by morning."

"Morning? What time is it now?"

"Night time."

"… How old are you?"

"Seven."

"Hmm…"

"Are you feeling any better?" The green eyes blinked.

Miroku considered before answering. "I'm feeling good enough to be awake, I imagine."

The silence was his only response. The child was not impressed. "Hey, Mr.?"

"Yes?" he asked, closing his eyes in an attempt to go back to sleep.

"If you die… could you try and wait until morning to do it?" She asked quietly. "I don't want the funny-man to get mad at me… he's mean."

Miroku laughed quietly, ignoring the pain in his chest as he listened to the girl. "Yes…" he said after a while. "I imagine… that I might be able to wait until morning."

"Promise?"

"(sigh) Promise."

**… Inuyasha and Sango…**

"Inuyasha?" Sango called out, wondering if maybe he had passed out of exhaustion. Beside her, Kilala sniffed the air lightly and cocked her head.

Then Sango heard it. Soft, maniacal laughter…the grass which was cloaking Inuyasha's body stirred a bit.

"I-Inuyasha?" She asked, now nervous.

"Heh… heh heh heh… Ha! Ah ha ha **Ha HA**! **_YES_**!" The silver haired hanyou finally leapt up, emerging from the ocean of yellow-colored grass, his eyes wild and excited, the Tetsuigia fully drawn (and now officially back in order).

Sango raised an eyebrows, slightly surprised, but mostly unsure and cautious. "Great…" She said slowly after a while. "He's finally lost it…" If she could barely deal with a sane Inuyasha… she had no idea how she was supposed to be able to handle an _insane_ Inuyasha.

"Don't you _see_, Sango!" Inuyasha demanded, his eyes still wild with excitement. "It's a _barrier_!" Slowly the blade in his hand turned a crimson red. "It's _his _barrier! I _told_ you I knew where I was going!" he said triumphantly before slicing through the invisible wall. Sango blinked as the air became tinged with blue and seemed to wrinkle before dissipating in the air. A dark castle suddenly appeared in front of them, a sickeningly strong demonic aura suddenly washing over her, making her cough a little, despite her poison-shielding mask. "Come on!" Inuyasha called as he raced inside, mane of silver hair flying out behind him.

Sango stared after him a while before jumping back onto Kilala's back and rushing after him. "Yeah," She said softly to herself. "He knew _exactly_ where he was going… _that's_ the reason why he had to run face first into it to find it…" Kilala made a slightly annoyed noise in agreement. But at least they were closer to Kagome now… and maybe they could kill Naraku this time. Sango's fingers wove tightly into Kilala's mane and a surge of energy rushed through her veins. Maybe _this_ time she could avenge her family… and save her little brother… and finally kill that monster who had taken so much from them all.

'_Hold on Kagome…_.' Inuyasha thought to himself, the sword in his hand humming with energy. _'I'm coming.'_ He shielded his face with his sleeve as a burst of thick purple miasma gushed up into his face.

**… Back In Naraku's Room…**

Suddenly the demon prince froze, his slate blue eyes grew wide. Kagura felt her own body go on edge as she noticed her master's reaction. "That wretch…" he said softly as he looked out the window uneasily. "He's broken through my barrier…"

Kagura braced herself against the wall. She knew that they were leaving… now. "Do you mean to move the castle along with everybody inside it?" She questioned Naraku, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the idea. He had never done that before.

Naraku turned and smiled that wicked smile at her, his slate blue eyes toying. "Come now, Kagura." He said, his voice unbearable for her to even hear. "You of all people should be comfortable with a little bit of flying."

**… And now to Kagome…**

In her own room, Kagome was having a nervous breakdown. At this point the feeling was infecting every corner of her mind. She jumpier than she had ever been in her entire life. And she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her… or possibly even following her around the room, looming up behind her back, reaching for her. But whenever she turned around there was no one there. No one she could see anyway. What was wrong with her? Suddenly the under-cellar room shot into her mind with frightening clarity. She could remember exactly the way she had felt when she had first awoken down there… panicked. What if that _thing_ was coming for her again? What if this time she couldn't get away? She shook the thought away. It wasn't going to happen.

"Stop freaking out…" She told herself quietly, rubbing her palms up and down her crossed arms. She was freezing. And she couldn't stay here. She had to get out of this room. Wouldn't that help? Or was it safer in here? "Ok, Sayuri, calm down." She told herself firmly. "Just… Just get it together… Just go the kitchen and get a snack or something…" She swallowed for the dryness. Ok. Good plan. Hopefully she wouldn't run into a certain red haired cook while she was there. She wouldn't know how to look him in the eye if she did.

Kagome sighed, making her way over to the closet to get her blue robe, noticing how icy cold the wooden panels were on the soles of her feet. It was enough to make them ache. Hopefully the robe would warm her up, and hopefully that alone might serve to calm her down a little. She couldn't seem to figure out what it was that was unnerving her so badly. Shaking her head, she opened the mahogany doors with the little iron handles and reached in to pull out her robe, her hand brushing against the cold blue materials. And then Tetsuya's dead body fell out on top of her, pinning her to the ground.

**A/N: **Ok I know I know I said that Inuyasha and Kagome would be together in the end of this chapter. But it was just so damn long! And plus… I luv cliffies. :D! I was going to keep going with the chapter, but instead I think I'll let this one sit for a while and get some reviews (possibly flames for the breaking of an unofficial promise) and then I'll post the next chapter, which is already written by the way. (Well most of it anyway). HAHA! JUST KIDDING! This is what I was going to say… but then I decided not to. Because you know, I promised and all. But this was such a gooood cliffie! So do me a favor and just go get a glass of water and drink it in the kitchen or something, because then at least it will sort of be like the chapter ended here… only it won't have… ok?

**… Inuyasha…**

The miasma, at the moment, was doing nothing extremely damaging to his body. But it would be soon if he stayed in it long enough. At the moment it only felt as if there were a severe, raw burn eating away at the back of his throat (A/N: Think fifteen of those Listerine paper-thin packets all at once). It did nothing to hinder him now… but it was only the begging. He had a feeling he would be there for a while.

Behind him Sango and Kilala were slowing, the demon cat was already exhausted from having flown around for the entire day nonstop and she was also still recovering from Kagura's attack earlier that morning. The demon would be fine for now… but he wouldn't be able to depend on her for as long as he would have liked. And Sango? … Sango was only human. A tough human… but still human. And if anything happened to her, he knew of a certain religiously perverted someone who would have his head jammed on his "holy" seven-ringed staff before Inuyasha could blink. But he had other things to worry about. Like finding _her_.

"Kagome where are you!" No answer. He was almost to the castle now, anxiousness driving him to go faster. "Kagome!" '_I'm almost there… Kagome…_'

Suddenly there was a huge groan. Followed by the deafening sound of cracking wood and ripping earth. Ahead of them the castle began to shake. The stonewall around it was down in a matter of seconds, with a horrible cracking sound making his ears ring. Inuyasha instinctively pinned the silver ears down, trying to block out the noise. But it didn't help anyway. Before him the castle was bursting into a column of thick, purple miasma.

"Damn it!" Inuyasha cursed angrily as he stopped for a moment, his feet digging into the soft soil.

"Inuyasha!" Sango started, alarmed, as she came up from behind him on Kilala.

"I know…" Inuyasha said darkly. "They're moving the castle again…"

"What… what should we do?" Sango asked, a bit of worry evident in her voice.

"We do what we planned to do in the first place, dammit!" Inuyasha responded hotly, turning on her as if she had suggested to him that they go back. "We're going to save Kagome! I don't care if wants to move the entire island of Japan!"

**…Naraku and Kagura…**

"Are you sure you should do this without waking the girl?" Kagura asked in a voice of mild curiosity and disinterest. Purple fountains of miasma were gushing out of the floorboards now.

"She won't know what's happened until tomorrow. And in which case I will have thought of something to tell her."

"This may frighten her a bit." Kagura said, watching as the castle began to shake.

"That is none of my concern."

**… To Kagome… and well… that… you know…**

It was heavy… and it was stiff. It was staring at her. And she stared back.

All she could do was stare. She stared at the far-away copper green eyes which were staring back at her lifelessly… empty. Thick locks of red hair were falling into her face. But they were stringy… and moist. For the moment she was stunned. And Tetsuya was dead. When it hit her she gasped, her hand instinctively moving to cover her mouth, but finding that it, along with the rest of her body, was being crushed to the floor by Tetsuya's corpse… unmoving… unseeing… and very dead… she could smell it.

"Oh my God…" She said softly, turning her face to the side and closing her eyes tight. "_Oh my God_!"

She scrambled out from underneath the weight, feeling dirty and tainted… his body had been on hers… it had been crushing against hers… and it was so cold… cold and soft feeling skin that was rotting, and beneath were hard, brittle bones… the corpse was disgusting feeling, filthy… and dead. It had been _on _her. Frantically she got as far away from the body as she could, practically running into the corner wall. Once there she pressed her body up against the cold wood, as if trying to go through it. "Oh my _God_… Oh my _God_… Oh my _God_…"

She felt herself sinking to the floor, her body still pressed into the corner. She could feel the body in the room with her, no matter how tightly she closed her eyes she knew it was there. She could feel it. It was almost as if Tetsuya was watching her… staring at her… with those lifeless green eyes… she opened her own momentarily as she realized that that was the feeling that she had been experiencing all night… she just hadn't known what it was before.

Slowly she began to think, and that's when she became afraid. It didn't make sense… none of it made sense… what had happened to him? How had he ended up in here with her? In her _closet_! She felt suddenly sick as the turned and looked at the still body on the other side of the room, his face was pressed into the wood… but he was still watching her. Somehow.

She took a deep breath of filthy air and swallowed hard. The sick feeling wasn't' going away… how had he gotten in there? How long had be _been _in there for? Finally she wasn't able to hold it back anymore. She felt a violent shudder move through her entire body, her emotions snapping her bones and penetrating into her mind, forcing their way out all at the same time. That was it. That was all she could take. It was her limit. Kagome closed her eyes as tightly as she could against the shaking and the nausea, bit her lip one more time to try and hold it all back, and then she screamed. She screamed and screamed and screamed… she screamed until the back of her throat was bleeding and raw, tears were ebbing out of her eyes and streaming down her cold-sweat face. And all the while she could feel Tetsuya watching her… staring at her… copper-green eyes wide… and dead.

She had to get out. She wasn't even aware of when she had stopped screaming. But that was the first thing that popped into her mind. Out. She needed out. She needed away from the body… the rotting, cold, dead, crushing body. But it was lying in her way… it was blocking the door… she would have to move it… to touch it to get it out of her way… and she didn't know if she could handle that.

**… With Inuyasha…**

Inuyasha heard the scream. He heard the scream and he knew it was her. Something inside him snapped. And he was a mixture of emotions, of anger that she was screaming, that Naraku might have been doing something to her to hurt her… he would kill him.

Anxiety that he wouldn't be able to get to her in time… just like last time. When he had lost her…

Triumph that he finally knew where she was… that he knew she was alive…

Worry that she was afraid… that she was in danger

And guilt. Guilt because he should have been there for her. He should have been protecting her. He should be with her right now.

Sango watched as the hanyou's ears perked and his attention snapped in a certain direction. She was guessing he had heard something. Something she couldn't hear. Meanwhile her vision was begging to get fuzzy. Things were started to blur slightly, the borders of earth and air started to melt into one… and her head began to ache.

"Inuyasha!" She called wearily after the disappearing silver figure in the poison purple mist. But it was no use. He was gone.

**…And Kagome…**

She stared at the still body, as if half expecting it to reach out suddenly and grab her. A wild and crazy smile spread over Tetsuya's dead body. She had edged her way around the room, so that she was in the corner closest to the door. It was only inches away… but so was the body… and she couldn't get around him.

The fear was building up inside her. A fear that she had never. Electric and consuming, crazy fear… but paralyzing. She couldn't move. She was too afraid, but on the inside she was going crazy. Her hands were shaking, her skin was white… almost as white as him.

"Ok…" She said slowly, but then shut up, somehow feeling that her voice was breaking the silence and putting herself in danger. That somehow the silence would make her the focus of the room… of the only thing living in the room… of the thing that had yet to die, and so therefore must be killed… like Tetsuya had been killed. '_Just… focus on the door…_' she told herself firmly, trying her hardest to push away the fear. But it could not be pushed back. It was slowly eating at the back of her mind, like a maggot, and it was threatening to drive her insane. Her eyes flicked back down to the body and were caught there. '_Don't look at him!'_ She shouted desperately to herself, and her eyes snapped back to the door, but she still couldn't shake the feeling that he was watching her… smiling at her…

'_Just look at the door…_' She told herself, inching forwards, refusing to look down… but knowing that he was there… waiting for her to get close enough. '_Just look at the door…'_ She repeated, her fear a sick tightness in her entire body… she was going to throw up… or faint… or pass out… and he was watching her. '_Just look at the door…. Just look at the door… Just look at the door… Just look at the door… just look at the door… just look at the door… Just-' _

She tripped over something. She knew what it was. It was hard and soft… and it moved against the floor. The fear gripped her, and suddenly she was lunging for the door, screaming again, crying again, stumbling over something as she moved forwards toward the door… she knew what it was. She yanked the sliding door open with a slam, and fell into the hallway, something thumping behind her. She quickly stood, her legs and arms sickeningly twisted and urging her to go… to move. She stood and grabbed the handle to the door, slamming it shut behind her to lock the body in the room, away from her. But something stopped her. The door stopped. It jammed. Automatically Kagome looked down before she could stop herself, looking to see what it was that had jammed the door. It was a hand. Large white fingers crushed in the doorway… and that lead to an arm… and to a face… that was looking up at her… staring at her. Kagome screamed, and she left the door open. Knowing that now the body wasn't closed away inside the room, it was open. And the body was free to follow her, to chase her…

"Naraku!" She screamed as she ran down the hall, blindly, that blood-chilling fear clutching into her shoulders with painful force and forcing itself down on her, making her unaware that she was heading in exactly the opposite direction of Naraku's room… and instead directly to his gardens. "Naraku!" She screamed, her voice desperate, unrecognizable, though she didn't know that at the time. "Naraku!" She screamed, not hearing the sob in her voice. The tears streaming down her face. But no matter how far she ran she would never get away from those eyes… she would never get away from that face.

Then it happened. As she was running, something flew up into her face, choking her, making her stumble. Burning the back of her throat, still bleeding from when she had screamed. She coughed, the blood in her mouth now, and she spat it out, feeling it dribble down her chin. She entered the garden through the back way… unaware of where she was, unaware even of how she had left the castle in the first place. Clouds of purple mist were still gushing out into her face, choking her.

"Naraku!" She screamed, tearing through the carefully designed sand, her footprints kicking and smearing into the wave-like designs. "Naraku!" CRACK! Kagome screamed as she turned around, a dead tree falling near her. She watched in shock as a small pink blossom floated down into her palm and disintegrated into gray ash and dust, and then fluttered away as it tickled her palm. "The Kwanzan Tree…" She said softly to herself. Staring at the charred skeleton of wood and reaching, empty branches… all that was left of the beautiful, fragrant tree that Naraku and she had sat under only days before. That had sheltered them… gone.

Suddenly she realized what it was that was choking her. It was miasma. Tons and tons of miasmas, bursting up through huge jagged, rips in the ground… like some giant had clawed at it… It burned like acid in her lungs… making her dizzy… her tears stinging viciously, biting into her flesh… there was a loud hissing noise from her left, making her jump and whip around. Behind her the pond was dissipating, its water bubbling up like a boiling pot and then vanishing, thin white skeletons of fish bones lay in the bottom of the now empty stone basin. Kagome stared in horror.

"Naraku!" She cried, looking blindly through the miasma to try and find him… everything would be alright… if she could just find him. But she was so dizzy… and so sick… she could barely breathe. Before she knew it she was on the ground… the world spinning… she could barely see anymore… blinded… "Naraku…" She whispered desperately, trying her best not to pass out… not to die… like those green eyes…

She seemed to lie there forever, drifting, burning… the acid slowly gnawing away at her flesh… slowly licking away the layers of her skin… it hurt so badly… if only she could just get it over with… if she could just find Naraku. She wouldn't have to die… Then a thought struck her, struck her like a sledgehammer strikes a splint into a log… a kind of numb thought… slow at first and then brought back with a fierce reality. "I think … I'm going to die…" She said slowly, her voice rasping. The acid was burning at her still… killing her still. Trying hard to stop from inhaling it, Kagome buried her face into the dirt. But that didn't help. The ground was infected, dampened with the same searing miasma. It was hopeless, she decided, on the verge of tears… she was going to die, again. She had never even gotten the chance to find her memories… she had never had to chance to remember who she was… or be in love with Naraku.

'_Naraku…_' She thought weakly as she resided herself to death, the pain was unbearable. '_Why won't you come and save me?'_

A rough hand reached around the back of her head and grabbed her by the face. She tried to gasp in surprise, but some sort of cloth was being pushed into her mouth and over her nose. It was a strange hard cloth… and yet… strangely supple… familiar… It was wrapped around her body as well. She froze as she felt someone's weight come pressing down on top of her, the torn and tattered muscles in her body aching under the weight. Confused and slightly frantic, she turned her head to look over her shoulder. What she saw shocked her to the point that she almost screamed again… almost. There he was, lying on top of her… glaring at her through the purple mist. "Inuyasha?" She muttered, spitting the cloth out, and staring at him dazedly. "What… are you doing here?"

"Don't speak." He grunted, his amber eyes were squinting against the stinging purple mist. "I've got you."

Suddenly it occurred to her exactly what he was doing, he was shielding her… with his body. She was horrified. "Stop!" She said, trying to push him off of her, weakly shoving at him. "You'll die! Stop!"

"So will you."

"You don't have to go with me!" She shrieked, choking on miasma… it was tearing her up inside… literally. And what was she doing? She was telling the enemy to escape? "Go!" She yelled, ignoring her thoughts, something inside her was too afraid… to frantic… petrified that he should stay there with her… she had no idea why. "Go away! Please! Go! Get out!"

The young man above her did not budge, if anything, he pressed her into the ground harder. Could he even hear her? Was… was he even there? Her head was spinning now. She could barely make anything out. She could barely see his face. "What's w-_wrong_ with you!" She demanded, frustrated, and too weak from the miasma to pus him off. "INUYASHA LEAVE!"

The hanyou only flinched, his silver ears flattening against his head.

"G-go-oh…!" She slurred her words together… disoriented now… the pain was starting to fade. She tried to focus on his face as it began to spin around in her vision… blurry. Somewhere inside herself she knew it was the miasma. She shouldn't have been talking so much, she was only inhaling more. But she couldn't help it. She couldn't stand the thought of him dying there with her. "_Leave_ me here!"

Suddenly the young, silver haired man, who seemed to have ignored her up till this point, turned on her. He was furious, his amber eyes, about the only thing she could recognize anymore, glared down at her with a fierce intensity. "Dammit Kagome!" He roared suddenly, shocking her into silence. "You may not remember who you are," he started angrily, "but **_I _**do! And I don't care if you don't remember me! I'll be fucking _damned_ if I ever let anything happen to you again!" With that he pressed her head into the ground with his hand, his claws firm on her head as he put his own into the ground just beside hers. They were so close that their noses were brushing… and his eyes were already closed. As she slowly drifted to unconsciousness… the last thing she was thinking about… was the way his face had looked when he had yelled at her… it had made her feel weird… it had made her feel safe… even though he had been screaming at her. It had made her feel so…

**A/N: DAMN THIS WAS LONG! And no I haven't re-read it! This is all just me cramming in hours. (its almost 2:00 a.m. now… im so caffeine needy! Anyway the point is you should forgive if its badly written! I Don't care! I've stayed up all night long writing this and I'm not ever re-reading it again! SO there! And remember guys… review! **

**xox nanirain**


	16. The Stupid Conclusion

**Sixteenth Chapter: The Stupid Conclusion**

**A/N**: ok, so there's not really that much to say, except, for the few of you who are having trouble reviewing, that should probably stop happening after chapter 18. The reason its happening is because I deleted a few chapters (the ones that were random A/Ns because apparently that's illegal on / whatever). Anyway so after we get past chapter 18 it should all be back to normal. Sorry guys. (P.S. to Isisoftheunderground: thanks so much for bringing it to my attention, I was confused about it for a while too:). And thanks for the reminder! I luv my reviewers!) Ok anyway the other thing I have to say I Inuyasha isn't going to be all sentimental in this chapter. Only because I don't actually think that's they way he'd be right now. He will have at least one or two sentimental/soft moments in the fic, but not now, we've only jut got to the interesting part of the story. :D

**Disclaimer**: All the characters I owned are either dead or now irrelevant. However I still don't want them stolen. I like my dead/irrelevant characters, and I'll be absolutely heartbroken if you take them from me. Thank you :)

The Stupid Conclusion 

When she woke up she was cold. Comfortably cold… and she also had an acute pain blossoming in the back of her head. Groaning, she pushed herself up off the floor, her entire body protesting with a stiff ache. A smooth softness slid down her back, making her realize that she had been sleeping a clean, white cot, and the cold feeling had in fact just been a morning chill embracing her as the sheet fell. She winced slightly as she sat up on her knees, closing her eyes against the pounding pain in her head and the sore aching in her muscles. What had _happened_ to her?

"Hey."

Kagome's body jumped a foot in the air, and she practically screamed when she heard the unexpected voice. Whipping around and forgetting about her developing migraine, she turned to see whom the voice had belonged to, and stared in shock at his golden eyes. Those same golden eyes…

"No way." She heard herself say faintly, her brain frantically trying to come up with and explanation, but finding none.

Inuyasha didn't respond. He seemed to be content with just staring at her, unblinking. "Morning." He said casually, as if something huge wasn't happening.

"Morning?" She echoed, currently in a state of numbed shock.

He smirked. "Yeah, 'morning'."

"I…" She said slowly, staring at him, numbed. Slowly memories of last night returned to her, disoriented and fuzzy, but returning nonetheless. She remembered the way his body had been pressing down on top of her, forcing her into the ground. The way he had yelled at her… the way it had felt… and gradually, it dawned on her what he had done the night before. "I don't believe it." She said, blinking once.

"What?" He asked, seemingly interested.

"You…" She said softly, unable to finish her sentence. She noticed the way his ears flicked forwards on the top his head, his expression showing that he was listening intently to her. "Last night…" She said, staring at him in awe. "You…"

"Yeah…" He encouraged her slowly, trying to prompt her to finish her sentence.

"You…" She struggled with her words, but somehow they had become caught inside her mouth. "You… you kidnapped me!" She cried, voice returning to her with unexpected suddenness on both their parts.

Inuyasha stared at her, slowly blinking twice before he scowled at her. "_Kidnapped_ you!" He exclaimed, his annoyance and exasperation cracking through his voice. "I _saved _you!"

"Oh yeah right." Kagome retorted, her words flowing freely now. "And that's why you tried to poison us in our sleep last night!"

Inuyasha leaned forwards, bracing himself on his hands so as to get closer to her. "Why you crazy, insecure, over imaginative wench! How could you come up with a conclusion as stupid as that!"

"It's not stupid!" Kagome shot back, standing up suddenly, drawing herself up to her full height to stare down at him. "And I'm _not_ crazy! You poisoned me with all that miasma and then you _kidnapped_ me! You… you…" She was stammered, searching for an insult good enough to express her anger. "You _dough head!_" She screamed, mentally kicking herself. '_Oh yeah, Sayuri, good job; 'dough head'… that one ought to teach him._'

Inuyasha then abruptly ruined her dramatic effect by drawing himself up to _his_ full height as well, proving to be at least a head and a half taller than her. "For the last time, I _didn't_ try to kidnap you!"

"Oh yeah, then _why_ did you destroy the castle!"

"_I _didn't do it, Naraku did it!"

"Why would Narakudestroy his _own_ castle!"

"He didn't destroy it! He moved it, god damn it! He does it all the time!"

"He _moved_ a castle!"

"Yes!"

"_Now_ whose the crazy one!"

"Argh! Would you just _listen _to me for a second! You're so damned stubborn! I don't even know how I can _stand_ you!"

"Then _why_ did you _kidnap_ me!" She demanded.

"I _DIDN'T_ KIDNAP YOU!"

Kagome "humphed", glaring at him angrily, before abruptly turning on her heel and stomping toward the door, her fists clenched white at her sides. Her head was pounding, and she was almost too stiff to walk without falling over, but she wasn't about to let Inuyasha know that.

"Where the hell do you think _you're_ going?" He called after her, his voice rising dangerously.

"I'm going home!" She said over her shoulder, reaching for the flap.

Suddenly he was standing next to her, moving with an impossible speed that made her breath catch in her throat. His hand reached out and caught her wrist to stop hers from reaching the straw-thatched flap. His golden eyes were incredibly intense. "You can't." He said softly.

"W-watch me…" She faltered on her words, hating herself for letting her voice waver. But he was so close…

"I told you, you _can't_." he said again, his voice, strangely enough, getting gentler. "I sealed the well."

Kagome frowned, "You what?" She asked, confused.

"I thought you were dead…" He said softly, getting closer and closer to her, she tried to shift her weight back, but she was paralyzed by those eyes again. "So I sealed it…" he finished, looking slightly nervous. "I'm… I'm sorry."

Kagome was shocked. "Sorry?" She echoed, blinking. Had he actually just apologized to her? And also, "_What_ are you talking about? _What_ well?" She asked, confusion obvious on her face.

Inuyasha blinked, his expression entirely changing as he looked at her. He backed away slowly, releasing her hand and letting it fall. "Oh… right." He said, looking at the floor. "I thought you meant…" Suddenly an odd smirk crossed over his face. But it wasn't like the one before, it was sad. "You know, with that fight we just had… it felt like we were back to the way we were before…" he said, still frowning at the floor. "I forgot that you…" He trailed off, his voice dying and leaving Kagome in silence. "Heh."

His fragments of broken sentences had her dangling in confusion…she tried to make sense of what he was saying, but couldn't. There was a good chance, then, that Inuyasha was crazy, she decided. And the last thing she needed was to be kidnapped by a crazy murderer at a time like this… so she bolted.

"What the – Hey! _Kagome_!"

Her heart lurched in her chest as she tore out of the hut. There it was, that name again… it hadn't left her alone. And that feeling always came back when she heard him calling it. That terrifying feeling. She ran from the house, stumbling a bit as she tripped out the doorframe, sore legs aching as she pushed the pain into the back of her mind.

'_Got to get away…_'

"_Sango stop her_!"

Kagome looked over her shoulder at Inuyasha's figure in the doorframe. He wasn't coming after her. That was strange… "oomph!" Kagome coughed as she slammed into something.

'_Great…' _She thought angrily to herself, her sore muscles screaming at her. '_I slammed into a tree while I was trying to run away… how much of a klutz can I be?_'

But when the tree wrapped its arms around her and gripped her shoulders to keep her from getting away, she jumped in surprise. '_Or not…_' It wasn't a tree, in fact, which would have made her feel a little bit better, if it hadn't turned out that the tree was actually the girl from earlier, the one with the hurt shoulder. And she was trapped again.

"Kagome." Sango said quickly, her grip on the younger girl tightening. "Before you-"

"Let me go!" Kagome demanded, cutting her off and trying to yank free of her. But just like Inuyasha, shoulder girl had a grip like a vice. And Kagome couldn't even come close to breaking it. She thought about punching the wounded shoulder, knowing that that would probably be her best chance at being able to escape. But her arms were pinned to her sides… couldn't she just get a break today?

Before she knew what was going on, Inuyasha was standing next to her again, his body dangerously close to her own. She continued to struggle against the girl, even though now there wasn't a point. If she broke free from her, Inuyasha would most likely just knock her over and pin her to the ground, or grab onto her hair and yank her or something of the sort. His strong hand clasped firmly over her shoulder, and in an instant she had stopped, something about his touch paralyzed her.

"Kagome." He said, his tone serious, as if he were calling her.

She didn't want to say anything. And even if she had… she wouldn't know what it was she was supposed to say. So she settled for the first thing that came to mind. "Don't call me that…" She said softly. "That's not my name."

His expression hardened momentarily and then the next second the anger was gone. "Whatever." He said off handedly. "If you promise not to run off again we'll let you go and tell you what's going on."

Sango raised an eyebrow, but Inuyasha wasn't looking.

"Promise not to run?" He asked. His voice serious.

Kagome sighed, with one last useless tug at Sango's hold her body slackened. "Fine." She said, defeated. "I promise not to run."

Inuyasha paused, staring at her intently before he nodded, his golden eyes moving up to Sango. "Let her go."

The Slayer looked hard at Inuyasha, telling him that she knew this wasn't a good idea. But he was deadly serious, and he wasn't giving her a choice. Sango rolled her eyes and sighed as she let go of Kagome's shoulders, knowing that he was asking for it by letting her go.

"Alright," Inuyasha said, his voice turning to a lets-get-down-to-business tone. Meanwhile Sango was counting down the seconds in her head.

"Now this is what's really going on here. Firstly, I _didn't _try to kidnap you _or_ poison you, got that?" The hanyou asked, unaware of the obvious. "And secondly - oof!"

Kagome had shoved him roughly with her hands and bolted once again, this time headed at a dead run for the forest, her movements slightly clumsy from her sore muscles, her soft raven hair flying out behind her as she took off. She was lost within the foliage in seconds.

Inuyasha stood staring after her, thunderstruck, he frowned, his mouth gaping, his golden eyes blinking. Sango rolled her eyes. Only Inuyasha couldn't have seen that coming.

"Sh-she ran from me!" Inuyasha finally blurted out, his tone somewhere between hurt shock and rage. "She just _ran_ from me!"

"_Of course_ she ran from you." Sango said, whistling for Kilala.

"But she said she _wouldn't_!" Inuyasha insisted, still unable to get over it. "She _promised_ me she wouldn't!"

Kilala scampered up to Sango from seemingly nowhere, and instantly transformed, making Sango shy away at the sudden burst of flame. "Well," The slayer said, mounting the fire-cat with one easy swinging motion. "She isn't our Kagome anymore." She said matter-of-factly. "We can't count on her to keep the promises she makes to us."

"She doesn't _trust_ me!" Inuyasha said, still bewildered and furious. "I don't believe it! She's _always_ trusted me!"

Sango rolled her eyes. "I'll search from the air, you go into the forest, ok?"

"She _ran_ from me!"

With a tired sigh Sango dug her heels into Kilala's sides, and within moments they were soaring up into the air, circling carefully over patches of the forest at a time. Sango watched the endless sea of green for some sort movement, some distant sign of a running girl… but saw none. "Come on, Kagome," she said softly to herself, "where are you…"

Where was she? She hadn't a clue. And she didn't much care. All she could think about was running. All she could feel was the fear that a certain silver-haired someone was coming up behind her, about ready to grab her and tackle her to the ground. She tore recklessly through the underbrush, blind to direction, deaf to her heavy breathing and not caring what she hit or where she stepped.

The thorns and thick piles of underbrush had already ripped off large patches of her dress, clinging greedily to its soft silken fabric as she passed over them and tearing them from the hem. It had slowed her down, but it wasn't going to stop her.

Her sore muscles jolted as she tripped over a rock and started to slide down a little hill, her body half slamming into a tree trunk before she shoved herself off and continued to run as fast as she could through the forest. "Do I even know, where the heck I'm going?" She breathed, only half listening to herself as her hair caught in a low branch. She jerked her head forwards as she continued to run, tearing it free from the tangle of gnarled twigs and leaves. The pain was numbed by her pounding fear. The last time she had been running like this was… '_Tetsuya._' Tears welled up in her eyes and she blinked them away rapidly. She couldn't think about that now… she couldn't think about anything now, except running. So she ran. She ran for about twenty minutes straight, until she twisted her ankle in a hidden ditch, and then finally she was forced to stop.

"No, no, no, no, no, no…" The dishelved miko said softly to herself, sitting up and examining the swelling flesh, a purple bruise was already starting to form. "This is not good… This is _so_ not good…" She said, looking for a place to hide. No doubt Inuyasha and the shoulder girl would come looking for her soon. And when they did, she needed to be hidden. But where was she supposed to hide? She was in a clearing, and there was nothing around her to shield her. What was _with_ her luck today? Had it been like this her entire life? Or was it just recently that everything had turned so rotten around her?

She looked frantically at her surroundings, her mind racing and panicky. Rocks, trees, puddles, pine cones. Nothing she could use. Great, she was as good as dead now, and all because of a stupid twisted ankle.

And then she saw it. Perfect. A fallen oak tree lying a couple of yards away, rotten and molding, long patches of lichen and moss growing over the damp, darkened wood. It was so rotten that had been hollowed out, though she didn't know by what. But the point of it all was the fact the hole in the trunk looked just big enough for her to squeeze into if she made her body as small as she possibly could. It was going to be a very tight fit, but if it meant staying alive…

She crawled over to a nearby grove and picked up a large fallen branch from a pine tree. The needles were thick and bushy, and would serve as a good cover-up, without blinding her to the outside world. Looking back at the hollow tree trunk she roughly judged the size. It looked like the branch and needles would be large enough to cover the hole… but it wouldn't be perfect. If they were really looking for her they'd still be able to find her, not that she had much of a choice.

"Damn, it!" Inuyasha cursed as he ran through the forest. "I can't believe she _ran_ from me!" He was still replaying the scene in his mind. The shock of watching her dive into the forest, without even a glance over her shoulder to look back at him was still fresh in his mind. And it was still shockingly enraging for him, mainly for two different reasons: the first being that he had actually allowed himself to fall for it, and the second being that she had actually gone against her word to him.

"_She isn't our Kagome anymore_. _We can't count on her to keep the promises she makes to us." _

But she _was_ his Kagome. He knew she was. She still acted like Kagome, she looked just like Kagome, smelled like Kagome, she _was_ Kagome damn it! The only difference in her was that now she seemed to hate him. Inuyasha clenched his jaw tightly as he felt his insides begin to twist around into knots.

It hurt… to know that she didn't trust him anymore… to realize that she didn't remember the way that she felt about him… or the way he had felt about her. It hurt more than any physical blow he had ever suffered from anyone… but he wasn't about admit that. Especially not to himself. He'd be damned if he ever let anyone know that…

He stopped suddenly, sniffing the air delicately. Her scent ended here. He looked around, carefully, golden eyes narrowed and focused. But there was no sign of her. So he hit the ground, looking for tracks. They were easy enough to find, the soil was still damp and soft from the rain. She had fallen here… and then began crawling. But thenhe tracks ended.

He felt himself begin to panic. Ended? How could they just end? What the hell did that mean! Was she hurt? Did something happen to her? What if she was… he growled to himself, willing his mind to focus. The tracks ended there. But… there was something else funny going on. There was a trail of disturbed earth… it almost looked like something had been dragged… to that tree. Inuyasha stood up, regarding the tree suspiciously. It looked just like any ordinary, fallen tree would look, but the pine tree branch placed in front of it was almost too coincidental to be a coincidence. Inuyasha frowned at it. For a moment he considered just picking up the branch and throwing it aside, but… it probably wasn't worth it. And there were plenty of other places she could have gone…

"Feh."

**A/N**: Next one should be coming up tomorrow, or maybe even tonight if we're lucky. review please!


	17. The Ropes of Mistrust

**Seventeenth Chapter: The Ropes of Mistrust**

**A/N**: here we go!

**Disclaimer**: Like I said before, anything I own is either dead or irrelevant now. Inuyasha does not belong to me and neither do any of the other "Inuyasha" characters. Life sux. :'(

**The Ropes of Mistrust**

Kagome could feel the way her chest pounded. Her heart was so loud that she could hear it in her ears. Maybe he could hear it too… maybe that was why he had stopped. She was trying so hard to breathe softly, hoping desperately that the shell of the tree trunk she was hiding in would muffle the noise. But he _was _a hanyou. There was no telling exactly how good his sense of smell really was. Then, suddenly, he dropped to the ground, examining the earth beneath him closely. Great… he was tracking her.

She watched through the brush that was hiding her with wide brown eyes as he started to move across the forest floor, headed in the same direction she had gone to get the brush. He was deadly focused; completely locked into his work. So much so that she wondered if he would even notice if she sprang up from the rotten wood of the tree and ran right then… knowing her luck the answer would be, "duh".

When the hanyou reached the pile of pine brush he stopped, his head coming up from the ground. She waited fearfully inside the rotting trunk; the silence was enough to make her want to scream. She could feel every muscle in her body shaking with a dull ache, her ankle throbbing painfully, head still pounding, lungs now burning… and not to mention her location wasn't really the most ideal place for comfort either. It wreaked inside the rotting tree. Slick, wet mold that grew thickly along the inside of the wood brushed up against her face, and the wood itself wet and slimy, making it disgusting to touch. Who knew what was living in there wither right now… She shuddered. The damp wood was steadily seeping through her dress and soaking into her skin, making it itch uncomfortably. But she couldn't move. Not while he was still there. She wished he would just leave. She wished he would just leave her alone…

There was a faint rustle as he stood. All she could see of her pursuer were his bare feet on the ground, the hem of his red outfit barely visible through the pine branch, the red fabric clinging to his ankles. She practically choked as he took a step towards her. Oh god, it was all over. He knew where she was. He was going to find her, and he was going to kill her. She knew it. He was …

"Feh."

Kagome jumped at the sudden sound. Soon after, the feet left, leaving the ground in an effortless leap and then disappearing. Kagome watched, numb with disbelief. She stared in shock for a while, her shaking form still clenched tightly inside the tree… and then finally, the relief washed over her. Her entire body eased as her heart started to slow inside her chest. After a while she let out a long, slow breath. Waiting until she was sure he was gone. And then finally she kicked away the pine branch and crawled out into the light.

It was so good to be in the open again, to be out of the damp, smell tree and in the fresh air. Shakily, Kagome pulled herself to a stand, using the help of a nearby tree for support. Inuyasha was gone… and she was finally safe. Now she just had to make her way back to the castle… wherever that was. But to make it back to the castle… she would have to walk. Kagome sighed, looking down at her swelling, purple ankle. It didn't look any better than it had before. In fact, it looked considerably worse.

Gingerly she tried to put some weight on it, wincing as a sharp pain shot up her entire leg, sending a dizzying slam to her head. "Ah!" Quickly she took the weight off, feeling the dull pull of pain as it started to retreat back down her ankle and fade. "Great… now what am I supposed to do?" She asked herself softly. If only she knew where Naraku was. Then maybe she would have a chance of getting back to where she belonged. Then maybe she might have a chance to be okay again.

And then something hit her. Right on the nose, and it stung. Kagome blinked, her hand instinctively coming up to touch her nose delicately with her fingers before she looked down at the forest floor at the small green acorn that had somehow managed to hit her square in the face. And on her nose no less. She picked it up, examining it carefully. It was green. Bright, aching green. Kagome frowned and quirked an eyebrow at it. Acorns didn't fall when they were green… they fell when they were brown. So this one shouldn't have fallen. Unless someone had…

"Hey."

Kagome felt the dread slowly sink into her stomach. '_Oh no…_' Slowly she lifted her head and looked up at the branch directly above her, already knowing what it was that she was going to see… or rather,_ who_ it was. '_No…_'

There he was, glaring silently down at her form about eight feet in the air. She could tell from the look in his hard golden eyes that he wasn't very happy with her running away from him. No indeed. He sat casually in the very same tree she was leaning on, with one leg dangling over the branch on which he was perched and the other bent up so that his right elbow could rest on it comfortably; obviously he had been there since the begging, watching her.

"You've got to be kidding me." She said weakly, unable to believe her bad luck. What _was_ it with this guy? Didn't he _ever_ give up? "How long have you been sitting there?" She asked, knowing that she should have been running. But it wasn't as if she could get that far anyway now that he had in fact caught up with her. She had, after all, a twisted ankle.

"Whole time." He replied dryly.

She sighed, resting the side of her face against the trunk resignedly, closing her eyes momentarily before opening them again. "Well," she said slowly, "I'm still not giving up, you know."

He dropped down beside her with a "Feh.", his feet softly hitting the damp soil beneath him. Kagome was only slightly fazed by his graceful landing from the impossible height. "I know." He said.

"I'll try again later." She said tiredly, more as if she were thinking to herself than talk to the man beside her.

"Kay." He said simply.

"Kay?" She echoed, raising her eyebrows at him.

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter what you do; when you run away, I'll be coming after you." He said seriously. "I'll _always_ be coming after you."

If Kagome had had her memories then, she would have smiled. She maybe even would have blushed, maybe kissed him and told him "thank you, Inuyasha". But she didn't have her memories. So she didn't thank him. Instead, she just gave him a twisted look, taking what he was saying in the exact opposite way it had been intended, looking at him with obvious disgust. "You're such a sicko." She said plainly.

He smirked, kneeling down on the ground and tilting his head a certain way so that his hair spilled like liquid moonlight off his back. "Get on." He said casually, looking over his shoulder at her as if they did this everyday.

Kagome stared back at him incredulously. "Are you kidding?"

He gave her a funny look. "No."

"I'm not getting on."

"Why not?" He asked, getting annoyed.

"Because I don't trust you!" She said angrily, what was wrong with this guy? He was acting as if they weren't enemies at all.

"Yeah," He said quietly, something about his voice was bitter as he turned his head away. "I noticed…"

Kagome eyed him carefully, seeing that he still wasn't moving. "I'm not letting you carry me." She said matter-of-factly.

"How else do you plan on getting back to the village?" Inuyasha asked. "You twisted your ankle."

"Gee, thanks… I hadn't noticed that." She replied tartly, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "But I'm not going back." She replied, her tone turning icy. "I'm going home."

Inuyasha then stood, turning to her, his expression serious and slightly irritated, although underneath the surface, she suspected he was raging. "Look," he said promptly, as if to leave to room for her argument. "We've obviously got a lot to talk about. But first we've got to get a few things straight."

She blinked, taken aback by his sudden change of mood.

"For one, I didn't kidnap you." He said forcefully. "And I didn't poison you, and I'm going to try to murder you."

Kagome scoffed.

"I'm not." He said again, his voice maintaining that serious tone. "And you have to trust me if this is going to work out."

"I'll trust you if you let me go back to Naraku." She said.

"I can't let you go back to him." He said firmly, the anger in his eyes starting to pace near the surface.

"Then I can't let myself trust you." She said coldly.

That was it. Apparently she had just pushed him over the edge. "Would you stop saying that!" he shouted angrily, his temper flaring up without warning. "I _know_!" he shouted. "I _know_ you don't trust me and I'm _trying_ to deal with it! I _am_!" He said, slamming his fist into the trunk of the tree he had been sitting in earlier and splintering it with a loud crack to Kagome's surprise. "But it would be so much easier on the both of us if you just stopped being so fucking difficult!"

Kagome stared, opening her mouth to say something but then closing it again, flustered and frightened beneath the glare of his flashing eyes.

"I know you don't want to believe me." Inuyasha said, his eyes still angry though his tight voice was starting to lower and come back into his control. "But Naraku is lying to you. I know he is. You're name's _not_ Sayuri, and his castle's _not_ your home, and he _isn't_ your master. You're name's Kagome. And _Naraku_'_s_ the one who's trying to kidnap, poison and murder you. You're home isn't with him. You're from inside a well, which is a portal to your era in the future. And there's the tree and the shards that make you go back and forth… magically." He said, looking rather hopefully at her. "There. Does that help you any?"

She stared blankly at him, completely silent.

"Well?"

"It just…" She gathered her words and gave him a funny look. "It just convinces me even more than before that you're absolutely insane."

For a moment she thought he was going to slam his fist into the tree again. She thought was going to lose it, and genuinely, he almost had. "Look, I know it sounds crazy." He said, closing his eyes tightly. "But it's the _truth_. Naraku's trying to hurt us both this way and… and I'm going to protect you from it. I won't let him ever touch you again… I swear."

Something inside of her flinched… or rather, something clicked. Something familiar. Deep in the depths of her concealed mind, something began to flutter against the surface, barely brushing against her consciousness… almost in her comprehension…. She tugged at it gently, afraid that if she tried to hard she'd lose it. And then it gradually came back into her mind.

A memory.

"_Stop crying!"_

"_Oh and what should I do? Laugh?"_

"_No! You should **shut up** and let me **protect** you!"_

Kagome struggled as the voices in her mind started to fade. The image that had accompanied them had been blurry, barely comprehensive at all… but the voices were clear. Desperately she tried to hold onto them, to try and make them stay and anchor them to her brain. But the more she tried the more they seemed to slip from her grasp, back through the crack in the stone wall where they had come from, somewhere in her past. But they had felt real. She knew it was familiar to her… somewhere in her core, and she was desperately trying to bring them back again. But they were gone.

"Kagome?"

She snapped out her trance, a dizzy sick feeling washing over her. It was the same feeling that came every time she tried to dig up a piece of her past. But this time it was overwhelming. When she managed to look up through the sickness, she was a little startled to see Inuyasha watching her carefully. If she didn't know any better she would have thought that he was… worried.

She stared at him, a little unnerved and more than a bit surprised. It had definitely been his voice in her memory, hadn't it? "What?" She asked him faintly; unable to remember why she had looked up at him in the first place. Her breathing was shallow now… and it was getting shallower.

He frowned, looking at her intently. "What's wrong? You look like you're about to collapse."

She took a shaky breath, exhaustion passing over her. "That's probably… because I am." She said softly, feeling herself begin to tilt backwards… "Inuyasha." She called out weakly just before she lost herself to the black out.

She never felt the way his strong, ready hands reached out to catch her, never letting her even come closet to hitting the ground. She didn't see the way he looked at her, sadly, neither did she ever feel the way he held her close to him and allowed himself to just stand there and take in the gentle scent of her soft hair against his face… just this once…or hear the way he said her name… softly, sadly.

"Kagome." He still missed her. He missed her so much it hurt him inside. And he would go on missing her, until he got her back again.

Later the next day, when the last few fleeting shards of daylight had finally been blocked out by the thick clouds of a velvet night sky, the three of the were all piled in Kaede's hut, watching over Miroku as he slept.

Sango sat still beside him, her beautiful dark brown hair falling elegantly into her deep brown eyes, which were fixed worriedly on Miroku's ashen, white face. Her hands rested readily in her lap, prepared to reach for the medicines at any sign of discomfort on the sleeping man's face. Her own pretty face was weary and tired-looking from watching over him for the entire past day and a half. But she wasn't going to move. Not until she was sure he was going to be ok.

Behind the anxious slayer, Inuyasha paced lightly back and forth, his ears flicking every so often in an irritated manner. He was also worried about Miroku, though he would rather have his stomach torn out and shredded by Sesshomaru before ever admitting that to Miroku. But still… it had been three days of waiting, and he was still unconscious. And now he had begun to wonder, silently, if maybe Miroku wouldn't ever wake up at all.

And as for Kagome? Every once and a while he allowed his eyes to betray him and slide a sideways glance at her figure in the corner. He watched her carefully from the corner of his eye, waiting for something to happen. And he had good reason for it too. It had been only yesterday morning when she had made her first attempt at running away from them before she passed out in the woods. And since then she had made seven more attempts. Three times out of which she had made it completely into the forest before they caught her, and one time in which she had taken a rather heavy iron pot to the back of his head in a fruitless effort to try and buy herself some time. As it was he still had a huge bruise, thought it was healing… slowly. She had also bitten him once, kicked him in the shins twice, and had tried to savagely twist his ears off his head several times as well. All and all she had become very annoying to deal with, even for him. And that was the reason for which Kagome now sat in the corner of the room, bound and gagged rather effectively with thick, yellow ropes.

Originally they had thought that only two ropes would be needed in order to properly restrain her, using one for binding her ankles and another for her wrists. But soon after they saw her furiously hopping away from the village they found that perhaps they needed three, in order that they also might bind her knees together as well. And then three turned into four, when they found they required yet another rope to secure her arms firmly down to her sides, so she couldn't use her tied fists as a sort of club with which to knock them over the head with. And finally four turned to five, with a final rope going around her mouth, after she had effectively untied the knot around her arms with her teeth and resorted again to the clubbing technique.

And now she sat, in all her tied up glory, glaring sharp pointy daggers at Inuyasha. Her dark brown eyes were smoldering with anger. Obviously she was not very happy with him. Not very happy at all.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Inuyasha finally asked, trying to hide how uncomfortable the look she was giving him made him feel.

She gave some sort of muffled reply through the rope, which after a few attempts he was able to translate into "because you tied me up, you idiot."

"Well I wouldn't have had to tie you up if you didn't keep on trying to get away, damn it!" he defended himself rather testily. Sango meanwhile, did her best to try and ignore the two. _She _for one, couldn't understand a single word that Kagome was saying. It seemed that only Inuyasha, who had undertaken hours on end of screaming sessions with the gagged girl, could seem to understand what she was saying with a mouthful of rope.

'_Unbelievable._' The slayer thought quietly to herself. '_She's gagged and has no memory of him whatsoever… and they've **still **found a way to argue with each other._'

As it was, Sango had had to endure the first few hours of shouting sessions with Inuyasha, in which there was a constant stream of muffled screaming from Kagome and several frustrated cries of "WHAT!" "WHAT!" From Inuyasha, as if somehow screaming at her would help him better understand what she was trying to say to him.

Now as Kagome continued to glare at him, she gave him another response, which he had a much harder time with, but after a while figured it out to be "you can't really blame me for trying to get away! You kidnapped me!"

"Damn it! I DIDN'T KIDNAP YOU!" He roared, starting at her from across the room.

Instinctively the bound girl shrunk away from him into the corner, a look of absolute fear flashing across her eyes that made the hanyou stop in his tracks. She watched him as his body slowly relaxed, his eyes softening slightly, but still keeping a small look of tired frustration. "I'm not going to hurt you." He said more quietly than he before (thank the Gods). "So don't look at me like that… it irks me."

Kagome blinked and studied him, clearly confused.

Inuyasha opened his mouth to continue when something distracted him. A groan. A rather soft groan but a groan nonetheless. Jerkily, Inuyasha turned around, watching as Sango leaned forwards and helped a groggy Miroku attempt to resume a sitting position. So the monk was finally awake.

"Miroku," Sango said worriedly as the semi-conscious form began to stir. She placed a gentle hand over his and slowly his violet eyes flitted open. He groaned as she pulled him up into a sitting position, rubbing his head wearily with his left hand.

"Damn those insects…" he muttered quietly to himself, his eyes still closed. "How long was I out for?"

"Three days." Sango answered gravely, her deep brown eyes still full of worry for him. "Maybe you should lie back down, Miroku. Maybe you're not strong enough to-"

"I'm fine, Sango." Miroku said, lifting his eyes to look lovingly at her and smile in encouragement. "I'm totally and completely…" He drifted, the smile falling from his face as his eyes connected with something behind Sango. He then stared blankly, his face expressionless, but nevertheless his gaze lingered for a long amount of time on whatever it was that had caught his attention. "Then again…" he said slowly as he turned back to Sango, his voice weary and slightly annoyed. "Do you have anymore anti-toxins?" he sighed heavily. "It appears I'm having delusions."

Sango frowned. "Delusions?" She asked, that had never happened to him before.

Miroku glanced over her shoulder and stared blankly some more before returning his gaze to the worried slayer with a sigh. "Yes. We shall need a plentiful supply of anti-toxins… _strong _anti-toxins." He added with one last glance over her shoulder. He shook his head and looked again, this time apparently annoyed that that delusion refused to go away. Finally Sango turned around to look over her shoulder where the monk had been looking, while Miroku lay his head back down on the pillow and closed his eyes.

"Oh." Sango said softly, suddenly understanding. "You think you see Kagome, don't you?"

Miroku opened his eyes momentarily to regard Sango with a look of mild curiosity. "How did you know?" He asked, slightly bewildered.

"Because you _are _seeing Kagome, you half-wit!" Inuyasha snapped impatiently, interrupting what had been until now, a relatively low-toned conversation. He had been waiting for Miroku to return to consciousness for a full three days now, and he had been growing a bit worried about him. Now his irritation showed. "For someone as wise and all-knowing as you claim yourself to be you'd think you'd be able to tell the difference between a delusion and the real thing!"

But Miroku hadn't heard him. The somewhat woozy monk was now sitting bolt upright, wide awake and rigid. His and clenched Sango's tightly as his gaze now locked on Kagome. Had his face not already been impossibly pale, it no doubt would have grown whiter. For the first time in a long time the monk was actually left speechless. "There… this… this must be some sort of dream." He said suddenly.

"She's not a dream and she' s not a friggin delusion already!" Inuyasha roared, impatient with the poor, stunned Miroku. "It's _Kagome_. The real, living, breathing Kagome!"

All Miroku could do was stare. Finally his gaze returned very slowly to Inuyasha. "And… she would be bound and gagged for what reasons again?"

"Miguh moldew mry ranengh rigg nout mamougmay! Mry ranengh migs raymursee!" Kagome struggled wildly, trying somehow to inch her way forwards, though she was in a position to almost make that physically impossible. "mangh mrie gohld rewuh goo mreght mrie grmow!" (**A/N**: Roughly translated as: "I told you my name is not Kagome! My name is Sayuri! And I told you to let me go!") At this Miroku raised an eyebrow and turned back to Inuyasha.

The hanyou regarded the girl with slight annoyance, though Miroku could have sworn he saw traces of a little bit of bitter sadness hidden deep inside the expression. "She doesn't remember anything." Inuyasha said roughly, though sounding slightly tired at the same time. "Naraku somehow erased everything. Apparently he never… killed her. But he's got her convinced that she's this girl named Sayuri. And…" Inuyasha faltered, his hands quickly turning to tightly clenched fists. "And that now she's on his side of the battle now." He gritted out angrily, his knuckles turning white.

Sango took that as her Q to take over the explanation, realizing that Inuyasha would probably start smashing the little furniture that was inside the small hut if he was forced to continue. "We saved her from the miasma when Naraku moved his castle, but we still can't convince her that she's really Kagome." Sango said tiredly.

"Never mind _that_! We can hardly keep her here without having her _kill_ herself!" Inuyasha said suddenly, intense anger simmering just beneath his barely contained voice. "She's so damned confused that she doesn't who we are. All she wants to do is go back to Naraku. And what's more, she _refuses_ to believe anything I say to her!"

Miroku stared for a long time at his distressed and frustrated friend, his expression completely blank for the longest amount of time before slowly turning into a frown. "I _just can't_ leave you alone for a minute can I?" He asked, disapprovingly, as if somehow it was Inuyasha's own fault that things had turned into such a mess.

Inuyasha blinked, then frowned at the realized criticism. "Hey!" He shouted angrily, turning to face the monk.

But then (and with suspiciously convenient timing) Miroku abruptly passed out on the mat again, the toxins overwhelming him once more.

**A/N: **I know, I know, typos galore, but my spell checks currently busted. Till then, I guess I'm on my own. :P and by the way I've hit a rut. Yes I know the last two chapters were funky. Sorry. I'll get it right next time. Promise

xox

nanirain


	18. The Way They Act

**Eighteenth Chap: The Way They Act**

**A/N**: This is a silly and pointless chapter. In fact the only reason I've written it is to buy myself some time. Heh heh… the fact of it is, I'm rushing to post this because I haven't updated in a while. You don't even have to read it to know the story line. It's really just meaningless dribble. But it clears my conscious to know I've at least posted _something_. Anyway, the real chapter is coming soon. Promise. :D

**Disclaimer:** **sigh** must we do this every time? (Takahashi's beefy, bouncer-type lawyers glare through their sunglasses). **pouts **oh fine! I don't own Inuyasha or the characters from the series "Inuyasha" those who are not property of Rumiko Takahashi or Jump's are MINE :p

The Way They Act 

By morning Miroku was practically on a full recovery. He could walk easily again, and jog certain amounts of distance without collapsing of exhaustion. And he was, as always, more than ready to use these useful running and walking skills to track down every beautiful girl in Japan (or if not beautiful, then just willing). A few times he even tried the "I've just recovered from a near-death experience. I'm scarred for life. Pity me. Feel sorry for me… Please bear my child!"

Sango was torn between relief that he was alright and unspeakable rage at the fact that he had once again began womanizing, and not an hour off of his death bed at that.

Little did she know, however, that Miroku was just stalling. The fact of it was: he didn't want to go near Kagome. Because ever since practically the moment he had woken up for good, Inuyasha had been demanding that Miroku "fix" her.

Easier said than done.

"Excuse me, Miss." He called from the far side of a clothesline.

"Oh hello, can I help you?" A young, pretty girl with large, curious brown eyes and dark black hair turned from her chores to look at him. She was kneeling over a bucket of wet laundry.

"Would you mind if I gave you a hand with that?" Came the innocent question.

"Oh! Why, yes, that would be wonderful." Came the naïve response. The village girl, the poor unsuspecting village girl, smiled and brightened at his offer. "You're so kind!"

"Naturally." Miroku smiled charmingly at her as he made his way over to the washtub.

The laundry girl bent over to the clothes bucket again, unaware of his wandering eyes. Her hands dipped into the soap suds and grasped a pile of white bedding that lay dormant beneath the murky water.

"If you could just-"

"Ah! Damn it she's fast!"

The girl turned around, rather alarmed, to see what had caused the monk's sudden outburst. He tore his murky violet eyes away from the road he had been staring down, smiling nervously at her. "Please forgive… Buddah calls."

"What?"

But he was already gone. Far away gone. And running, a cloud of yellowed dust kicked up behind him. The girl at the washtub stared after the holy man, wondering what she could have done wrong when an alarmingly large boomerang whizzed over her head, making her cry out in surprise and duck, inadvertently covering herself with the damp sheet in her hands as she tried to shield her head. Soon the boomerang zoomed back over her head and was caught by a figure fast approaching down the road.

"Come back here you perverted, lying, hateful, filthy excuse of a monk! You insane, dastardly, despicable, pitiful, egotistical-"

The girl stared in wonder out from underneath the sheet as a beautiful woman raced past the hut, moving in the same direction as the monk had gone just seconds before. Her pretty face was livid. And she was letting loose a string of curses shamelessly.

"Um… excuse me-" The laundry girl beneath the sheet raised and timid hand to try and get the woman's attention, but she was cut off as Sango's attention snapped onto her with frightening force, her body rigid as she noticed the other girl's beauty.

To the girl beneath the sheet, the woman's eyes seemed to blaze with fires of hatred as she studied the girl before her with narrowed brown eyes.

"And I suppose he tried to "help" you too, didn't he!" Sango demanded, causing the girl to turn almost as white as the sheet she was now hiding under.

"The monk?" She asked weakly, starting to shrink back beneath the cover, as if that would protect her or suddenly make her invisible.

The woman seemed to bristle at the word "monk".

"Yes'um." The girl managed. "He asked to help me with the laundry, he-" But she was cut off once again.

"The laundry!" The woman exclaimed, apparently even more furious than before, though the girl couldn't understand why something as trivial as laundry would be enough to churn the woman's ire. "The _laundry_!" Sango spat, as if disgusted before starting after the monk again, screaming once more. "The _laundry_ Miroku! That happens to be your lowest low yet! Stop running from me you bloody, lecherous, scheming, contriving, low-life! You inconsiderate, pompous, self-absorbed, megalomaniac! You damnable, indecent, abhorring, impure, heinous, sickening, sinful, detestable jerk! Of all the inconsiderate, brain-dead, lascivious, disgraceful, disgusting, things to say! Of all the…"

And so the insults dragged on and eventually faded as the girl and the monk disappeared. And now startled and rather confused girl crawled out from under the sheet and carefully looked around before shaking the sheet free of dirt and loose blades of grass, hanging it on the laundry line and finally starting to relax again when suddenly: "OW! DAMN IT! LET GO OF MY EAR!"

"LET GO OF MY ARM!"

"NEVER!"

"SAME!"

"_WOMAN_, DO YOU _WANT_ TO BE TIED UP AGAIN!"

"NO!"

"THEN STOP BICKERING!"

There was a scream. And the girl watched in stunned fear like a frightened deer as another couple came into sight. There was a man steadily walking up the road towards her, coming from the direction the boomerang-wielding woman and the monk had just gone, and heading in the direction from which the monk and the previous woman had originally come from. But this man, unlike the first, was clearly a demon. His long slivery hair and bright golden eyes declared it shamelessly to be so. His talons gleamed dangerously in the sunlight, much like his fangs as he suppressed a growl within himself. His strong hands were currently locked tightly around a girl's calves.

The girl herself was slung over his shoulder like a sack, and being hauled off to some unknown place. But it didn't look like she wanted to go. In fact it looked very much like she was enraged, much like the woman with the boomerang had been enraged, about the idea of reaching the silver-haired man's destination. And she was putting up a rather good fight too, considering she was only a human and he was a dangerous demon.

The laundry-girl watched in awe at the boldness of the human girl as she pushed into the man's back with her hand, lifting her upper body high enough so that she could reach with her other hand and viciously grab the man's silver ear, yanking it in a painful twisting motion. Apparently this was excruciating for the victim, demon or not.

He grimaced, his face crunching with the pain, golden eyes clamping shut beneath the wisps of silver hair that fell into his face in handsome sloppiness, clearly he had been through somethng. "Would you stop _doing_ that already!" The man snapped.

"Not until you put me down, no!" The girl screamed in reply.

"Ha! Fat chance!" The man shouted, smiling wickedly up at her.

"YOU JERK!" She cried, pulling an extra tug on his already twisted ear. Laundry-girl wouldn't have been surprised if the struggling human managed to yank it off entirely.

"OW! Damn it, Kagome! I'd like to keep those _on_ my head if it's all the same to you!"

"Stop _calling _me that!" The human girl shrieked, her whole body beginning to thrash, though she kept her grip firmly placed around his left ear. "My name is NOTKagome!"

"ARGH!"

"URMPH!"

And soon they were out of sight and out of earshot to the Landry Girl who stared after them, a little afraid to move. As if perhaps when she tried to resume with the laundry, another shouting couple would come tearing down the road, this time more horrible and ear-shattering than the last two.

But instead there was a soft chuckle behind her and she turned to see her mother standing in the doorway, a mysterious smile on her lips and a knowing twinkling in her eyes. "Looks like love is back in the air, Chiriko." She said softly. "Looks like love…"

"Love?" Chiriko asked as she dipped her hands into the soapy water once more. "Surely you jest, mother."

But her mother only laughed softly, the back of her hand covering her mouth. "Oh you'd be surprised the way people act when they've fallen in love with each other… whether they've realized it yet or not…" Her mother smiled softly, the back of her hand falling the swell of her belly. "Yes, you'd be very surprised."

Chiriko gave her pregnant mother one last skeptical look at her mother before turning back to her laundry. '_Those two couples in love with each other_…' she thought as massaged the fabric with her softly pruned hands. '_Yeah right_.'


	19. The Incoming Storm

**Nineteenth Chapter: The Incoming Storm**

* * *

****

**A/N**: Ok, this is the next chapter! (Not a filler chapter!… geez that last one was random and weird… but apparently some of you liked it! So yey!) Anyway what I mean is that this is the _substantial _chapter:D At last! I was delayed because I was traveling. Sorry.

**Disclaimer**: Inuyasha characters are not mine

**The Incoming Storm**

Naraku knew exactly where the girl was. And he was furious. Kagura knew that. So she stayed as far away from him as she possibly could for as long as she could. Because when Naraku was that angry, her very life was in danger.

The sorceress visited Sesshomaru twice, and during these visits she told him about the girl named Kagome and the way Naraku was reacting to the events as of late. As always, her visits with him were brief and formal and cold, and left Kagura with the inexplicable and rather enraging feeling that she had been snipped.

In truth, she actually had no idea why she continued to talk to Sesshomaru, or why she went through to trouble to seek him out and meet with him when it was clear that he didn't intend to do anything to help her regain her freedom.

This time he had hardly said anything at all to her. The demon lord had simply stared at her as she talked, his handsome face as blank and cold and breathlessly handsome as ever, before he turned and walked silently in the opposite direction with Rin and Jaken trailing behind him. "These foolish mortal women of my brother's…" he said softly before he left, "have such a nasty habit of refusing to die."

She didn't know what that meant. And she realized that she still didn't know, even now, three days later while she wandered through a darkening forest. Maybe it didn't mean anything. She didn't know if Sesshomaru was going to do try and do something about the girl now, or maybe try and find a way to somehow take advantage of the situation… but she hoped he would. She hoped that he would be able to find a way to destroy Naraku. One day.

Why she kept her hopes pinned on _him_ of all people, she hadn't the foggiest idea. But she couldn't help it. Whenever she dreamed about gaining her freedom and destroying Naraku, her thoughts immediately shot to him, almost as if they had a will of their own.

Kagura struggled with the fact that the reasons she always went to him might have been more than fact that he was just strong… maybe the only one strong enough to be considered capable of destroying Naraku, save of course, for his younger brother Inuyasha.

But… based on the happenings as of late, Kagura could take a good guess that the silver-haired hanyou would probably be a bit too distracted to be able to think about going after Naraku anytime soon. And she was right.

She had spent some of her time with Rin, and nearly killed Jaken twice for his blatantly stupid and ignorant remarks. And now she was wandering the forests of Japan, aimlessly, thoughtlessly, staring straight ahead but not really seeing where she was going. She would be up in the sky right now… how she ached to be in the sky… but it was going to rain soon. Thick black thunderheads were rolling in from the north, and she didn't want to be caught in the sky during a storm.

She felt her thoughts steadily drifting back to Sesshomaru and his company. She didn't understand why she had stayed so long. But she had for some reason taken to looking after the little human child Rin, watching her play with Jaken and the double-headed dragon…

But all the while as she had watched her pick flowers and giggle at oddly shaped clouds, Kagura knew that soon she would be called back to the castle by her master. The thought had been haunting her, ever present in the back of her mind, weighing down on her like a damp cloth… no matter how hard she tried to dismiss it. No matter what she did she knew that she would have to return to him… eventually.

But when she felt the familiar tug in the empty cavity where her heart should have been, and became aware the familiar vibration of those goddamned buzzing insects echoing from deep inside in the forest, an unexpected wave of furious anguish crashed inside her hollow chest, threatening to make her lose control.

Her hands gripped the handle of her fan so tightly that she thought it might snap in half, her crimson eyes narrowing in hatred as she stared into the shadowy clearing before her, her body tensing with anticipation. She'd give anything to not have to go back to that monster. Anything.

But her anger soon gave way to surprise as a small white figure emerged, drifting toward her from the shadows of the forest, steadily moving forwards, silently like a ghost. A momentary gleam from lake-water-smooth glass caught the gray-blue light at an odd angle. Kagura nearly dropped her fan when she recognized who it was. "Kanna?"

The little white figure stopped slowly in the clearing, raising her head to stare blankly at the woman standing before her, showing no signs of recognition… no signs of emotion or life… just nothingness. And for some reason, Kagura's anger took hold of her again.

"What are you doing here, Kanna?" The wind sorceress demanded, her grip tightening once more on her fan, though they both knew that she had no intention of attacking the younger girl.

And Kanna only stared at her with those fathomless black eyes, her gaze just as eerie and unsettling as it had always been.

"Kanna." Kagura prompted, her patience dangerously thin. "What are you doing here."

"Naraku… will be watching you for a while."

Kagura's breath caught in her throat. "Whuh… what?"

"He's locked himself away beneath the castle…" She said, as f she weren't really there, or was thinking to herself softly. "He is preparing for the battle."

"The battle?" Kagura echoed, staring dumbly at her little sister. "What battle?"

"The final battle…" Kanna whispered faintly with her delicate voice. The surface of the silver-framed mirror in her hands grew dark, and Kagura thought she could see writhing shapes twisting in shadows. A sick fear plunged into her stomach. She knew what those twisting shapes were.

"The final battle?" Kagura whispered, her voice shaking, scarlet eyes boring into Kanna's black ones, trying desperately to ignore the reflection in the little girl's mirror.

Kanna did not respond. And the reflection faded in the mirror as slowly, Kagura's little sister turned away from her.

"Wait! Kanna!" Kagura reached out a hand after her. "What do you mean 'the final battle'?" She called.

But the little girl made no move to respond. She just continued to move through the forest. So Kagura did the only thing she could think to do. She followed. And her thoughts drifted back to the threat that Naraku would be 'watching her for a while'. She felt her facial features darken at the thought. Had he realized it then? Had he finally realized what she had done the night he moved the castle? Did he know?

She felt herself begin to panic and tried her best to rebuild her confidence. But she couldn't. She had known that what she had done was incredibly risky… incredibly stupid. But it was the only thing she could have done. It was the only way she could think of… she had had to do _something_… she couldn't bear it anymore… to just sit by and watch while the girl and her chances for freedom slipped further and further into Naraku's clutches… she just hadn't been able stand it any longer. So she had done what she had to do…

"Naraku will make… one last attempt at regaining the girl."

"One… last attempt?" Kagura asked, her voice deep with worry, her scarlet eyes directed inward, unseeing once more. She hoped she could survive to receive her freedom… she wished desperately for it. But if Naraku had realized what she had done the night he moved the castle, wouldn't he have killed her already?

* * *

**A/N**: It's so short because I had to cut it away from the next chapter. Originally it and the next chapter were all going to be one big chapter. But it was all just too long. Major cookies for anyone who guesses what Kagura did the night Naraku moved the castle. (Though you wont find out if your right until much later):D. Oh and thank you all for the reviews! I luv ya all! And just for you, QT: YEY! NEW REVIEWER!(big grin) WELCOME!

* * *


	20. The Glitch

**20th Chapter: The Glitch**

* * *

****

**A/N**: Wow… twenty chapters. I never dreamed it would actually go this far… huh. Well anyway this one is a little longer than the last one. Anyway, sorry about the sickening amount of cheesiness poured onto Inuyasha's thoughts. (Urkl! – noise one makes when choking on far too much cheese) I couldn't help it! And they're pretty rough too. Couldn't seem to get them right. You'd be amazed how hard it is to write meaningful stuff from his POV. (looks annoyed) Geez.

**Disclaimer**: These things are really getting annoying. "Inuyasha"… it ain't mine.

* * *

**The Glitch**

The two figures sat together, each cross-legged and positioned on the edge of the forest at the outskirts of the village. Their bodies were perfectly still and their downcast faces were stony with serious thoughts.

Miroku's thick black hair fell into his murky violet eyes as he blinked, his handsome features lost in contemplation. His golden staff rested over his chest and on his left shoulder, the bar running along beside his face, the holy symbol on top gleaming just above the top of his head. Across from him, Inuyasha sat the same position, his now-sheathed sword lay over his shoulder in a similar fashion.

"A predicament indeed." The monk said quietly, after a while.

"You're telling me."

Miroku raised his head to stare at his friend. It seemed as if they were once more caught in a hopeless situation. "You mean to tell me that she doesn't remember anything."

"Not a damned thing." The golden eyes readily glared at the interrogation he was receiving from his friend.

"And you haven't been able to make _any_ kind of progress with her?" The monk asked, frowning slightly, a skeptical eyebrow raised. He hadn't meant any harm by it, but apparently it was the wrong thing to say.

"You don't think I've been _trying_?" Inuyasha immediately became angry. "In case you haven't noticed I've been running around after her for the past ten days _trying _to tell her the truth! But she won't listen to me!"

Miroku's face became ever more doubtful as he gave Inuyasha a look. The hanyou was now kneeling instead of sitting, his sword gripped in one hand, the other bracing on his knee, half standing off the rock, as if ready for a physical fight. Miroku sighed inwardly. Lately it seemed that Inuyasha had somehow become even more hot-tempered than usual, if that was even possible, and the monk had learned to ignore it. "Considering the decimal of your voice as of late, I'd say she'd have little choice in the matter."

"That's not what I mean." Inuyasha snapped, now standing completely upright and glowering down at Miroku. "She's not…" he seemed to search for words before giving up, growling slightly as he walked around to the other side of the rock to stand rigidly, his fists clenched and his movements tight as he reattached his sword to his side. " She just isn't… listening."

Miroku frowned, turning Inuyasha's words over and over in his head. But he couldn't quite grasp the meaning behind them. "I fail to understand."

At that the hanyou scoffed coldly and sat back down, returning to his original position. "Join the club."

Inuyasha couldn't explain exactly what it was that he was trying to say. He wasn't even sure he understood it himself anymore. He was just so… frustrated. Things were getting garbled inside his head… fragments of thoughts raced around his head, blurring into each other, bashing around in his mind, bleeding into the borders of reason until he was sure that his brain had turned to a pile of mashed up mush. That's what it felt like anyway.

And all of the chaos and confusion was centered around Kagome. What should he do to help her? What _could _he do? He had to be able to do _something_. He couldn't stand the thought that she was simply standing right there in front him… and he couldn't reach her. She refused to allow herself to be reached; she just wouldn't listen to him.

And it wasn't as if she couldn't hear him, because he _knew_ she could hear him. He was reminded of that bitterly as his sore ear tweaked painfully on his head. But she didn't… understand him. Not like she used to.

The old Kagome could understand what he was feeling when he talked to her, even when he was trying his hardest to hide himself away. Somehow she had always been able to find him. But he hadn't realized until recently that a part of him had actually relied on her to always find him, even when the rest of him desperately didn't want to be found.

She had had a way of looking at him, of listening to him with those intensely focused eyes… beautiful dark eyes… and suddenly she was able to see right through him. Through all the walls and shields he had put up. The ones that hid himself and his weaknesses from the world. The ones he had thought were unbreakable… she could see through them, and then she could look at the inside… and be with him. He couldn't explain it any other way. But now that her memory was gone… she had left him. And he was even lonelier than he had been before she came.

Before Kagome, he had always been able to conceal himself from the world. He had always been alone… on the inside at least. Even when he was with Kikyo, they merely been together on the outside; She had never really understood him. So when Kagome had first come along, barged right into his heart and plopped herself down beside him, refusing to move away and leave him alone, it had been quite the nasty surprise. He had felt so uncomfortable… so unnerved, so thrown-off by the fact that she had so easily come to be with him, the _real _him, and she wasn't afraid. She could see him. And understand him. On the inside. And she absolutely refused to let him be lonely anymore.

It had scared him… a little. In the begging it had scared him to death. To actually _be_ with someone. But now… now that he knew her, knew her sweet, funny smile and beautiful, dark eyes, now that he had come to care so fiercely about her, she had gone…

He had realized then that he had loved her for it… for her just being able to be with him. Even though in the begging it had been annoying as hell, the way she used to be able to pick him apart and destroy his defenses; the way she saw the real him… So easily, effortlessly, she saw the young man inside him who he didn't always like so much, who stayed buried under sharp glares and harsh words and acts of false insensitivity. And she had put herself so close to him… so very, very close, and taken his hand, refusing to let it go, somehow knowing that he was lonely. But now he found that, strangely enough, it was what he missed about her the most. Yes, he missed her. But now she had come back. So why wasn't she listening anymore? Why wasn't she there, inside his heart, being with him, the _real_ him? How had she allowed herself to forget?

"Well, Inuyasha?"

"What?"

Miroku stared at hard at him. "I asked 'where is she now?'"

"She's at Kaede's. Sango's been checking in on her."

"Hasn't Kaede made any progress?"

"No. Stupid old hag's not back from her journey yet."

Miroku's frown deepened as he studied the forest floor beneath him. "Aren't you worried that it's taken her so long to return?"

Inuyasha's breath caught for a moment in his chest and he blinked, the thought striking him over the head like a brick. He _hadn't_ been worried, but it just occurred to him that he should have been. Upon Sango and his return, the villagers had explained that Kaede had gone off on some sort of calling, a meeting between the neighboring villages and their own. As head miko, Kaede, five other men and Shippo surprisingly, had left for the meeting place. But apparently that had happened a little over a month ago. And they still hadn't come back.

A small feeling of guilt started to intrude upon his already-overwhelmed conscious. He had been so wrapped up in a memory-less Kagome and a then-unconscious Miroku that he hadn't given anything else much of a second thought. But now… he was starting to worry. Where _was_ she? And where was Shippo?

**IN KAEDE'S HUT:**

It had been a week and a half. An entire bloody week and a half, and she was _still _stuck with these crazy people. Kagome sat in the corner of the strange, alien hut, her arms crossed across her chest as if to guard herself from the cold, but there wasn't even the slightest chill in the afternoon air.

She was curled in the corner of the one-roomed house, her knees tucked up and her face turned down. She looked as if she were hiding, or trying to somehow protect herself from attack. She was after all, in the enemy's territory. And she was still trying to find a way out. But there didn't appear to be one. She had tried running. Lots of running. But it was useless. Inuyasha was always coming after her. Just like he said he would that day in the forest. Somehow he always seemed to be able to catch her, no matter how fast she was or how clever her plans. He was always there to stop her.

'_And even if I did get away from him… where would I go_?' She wondered, her entire concentration directed inward, lost inside a maze of drifting thoughts. She had withdrawn from the outside world and was now brooding inwardly, oblivious to the things going on around her. Her reflections and recollections churning like the sea in her mind as she tried to find a hint, or even just a little glitch, the realization that would allow her to finally get away. But she didn't find it. She was begging to think that it wasn't even there.

'_Besides…'_ She thought carefully to herself. '_He hasn't hurt me yet. Maybe he won't do it if he hasn't already…_' Kagome stiffened, wanting suddenly to slap herself for what she had just allowed herself to think. Inuyasha was a murderer, and also, from what she could tell, a stubborn, selfish, egotistical, pig-headed jerk. And he just wouldn't let her get away. And he wouldn't stop lying either. All these lies about this "Kagome" person… was she even real?

She had to get out, she told herself. She had to.

She wouldn't admit that the real reason she was feeling so anxious lately was because she was guilty… guilty because she was begging to be… comfortable. She wasn't afraid anymore, even when she was trying to be afraid. Despite her constant efforts to get away, and her 24/7 arguing with the silver-haired boy who kept her here, there _was _something about her situation that felt a little… natural.

'_No._' She thought bluntly, catching herself. '_It's just your imagination. You can't start feeling comfortable here… not with him… he killed Tetsuya's mother and…_'

A coldness swept through her with amazing force, making her insides freeze over and shatter. She had tried all week and a half not to think about the body, distracting herself with plans to get away and thoughts about escape. But she had had nightmares… nightmares of those cold green eyes and paper-white flesh… rotting on her own, crushing her, suffocating her with the stench of death.

Kagome took a shuddering breath and blinked back the tears. She was begging to wonder if she would ever be able to forget about those blank green yes… staring at her. She knew couldn't let herself think about him. She _couldn't_. Because if she started thinking about that night and the body in her closet… she knew that she would lose her control, and she couldn't afford to do that. Not now. Not around him. She could never show Inuyasha and his friends that on the inside she was starting to weaken…

The afternoon sunlight flooded over her face without warning, blinding her and making her vision ache for a moment at the harsh brightness. Blinking, she looked up and squinted through the dusty sunlight to see the darkened figure of a woman was there again, Sango. Her face was grim and serious, and Kagome returned the expression. She had to be like a rock. She couldn't show her real emotions. It wasn't safe. Not around these people. (**A/N**: Now who does that remind you of? cough!cough!Inuyasha!cough:D)

"Hey." The girl said, her voice a little careful and a little… pitying.

Kagome only stared silently, and both of them stayed that way for a while, locked in some sort of weird competition of endurance that both of them mentally acknowledged but had unconsciously engaged. Kagome hoped that Sango didn't know that in reality, the slayer scared the living daylights out of her. Finally though, the older girl sighed and stepped into the doorframe, a small wooden tub in her right hand and the conflict was over, somehow Kagome had won.

"Look… Kagome…" she said tiredly, walking over to the corner and squatting down in front of her friend. "I'm going to go take a bath. There's a spring on the outskirts of the village and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me."

Kagome stared at Sango, shocked. "Come with you?" She asked, unable to believe her ears and momentarily forgetting that she had promised herself to be as silent as possible around these people. A promise she could never seem to keep whenever it came to Inuyasha.

"Yeah. I know you feel like you're filthy. Tell me honestly when the last time it was that you had a bath." The older girl said seriously.

Kagome blinked. It seemed like eons ago… and Sango was right; she did feel filthy. She hadn't had the chance to bathe ever since she had gotten here… God, she must have been crawling with filth. The very thought of it was enough to make her cringe. But then… if she did want to take a bath it would mean she would have to take one with this woman. And she didn't know if she felt all that comfortable with that idea.

"Come on." Sango said, smiling for the first time since Kagome had been there. "You know you want to."

Kagome felt a weird, familiar sensation when Sango was sitting there, smiling at her. Something began to tug at the corners of her mind… she could have sworn that she had seen that smile somewhere before…

"Well?"

Sango's voice snapped Kagome out of her haze and she shook the thought away, excusing it once more as "just her imagination". She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

She studied the woman in front of her a bit, looking at the cloth and oils and sheets that were folded inside. The idea of a nice hot bath was so tempting…

"Fine." She said quietly, standing up and feeling vulnerable. "I'll go with you."

"Knew you would." Sango said happily, taking her by the hand. "C'mon lets go."

And as she let the woman lead her out of the house and towards the other side of the village, she still couldn't help but think that somehow, somewhere she had seen that smile before. But no matter how hard she tried to think about it, nothing came. What she did realize though was that this was it. She had just tripped upon the glitch.

* * *

**A/N:** Once again, this is just a cut off from one big, ridiculously huge chapter that I have written. Geez! Well anyway the next chap is coming up in a matter of days, seeing as how I just have to read over it, and since it was supposed to be posted today as a part of this chapter. (Sigh) See you soon then.

xox - nanirain


	21. The Last Attempt

**21st Chapter: The Last Attempt**

**A/N**: sigh… im so bored with this these days. Maybe ill go work on TSP for a while… yeah. Or "Smashed" since I've totally forgotten about it. One reviewer even tried to throw rocks at me for it…O.o ok! Ok! I get it! Oh and a shout out: inu yasha lover144183, about your idea in your last review, you completely read my mind. I've been thinking about just how I want that to happen. And don't be modest. The idea is brilliant. (grin) major cookies to you for predicting the future. (Just ike Bubblez did… that wuz just… her prediction was just ingeniously genious… in a very weird way).

**Disclaimer**: Inuyasha ain't mine.

**The Last Attempt**

The hot spring was like heaven. Warm, steaming, watery heaven. The murky white liquid lapped at her collarbone and moved in gentle currents around her body, melting the soreness out of her stiff muscles and massaging the pain out of the multiple injuries and bruises that she now fashioned on her body.

Hot mist and water vapor fanned against her flushed face as she tilted her head back. She hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time. If she weren't so preoccupied with planning to escape, she probably would have fallen asleep. But she _was_ planning her escape. Sango just didn't know about it yet. All Kagome had to do was wait for an opening… a fraction of a moment when Sango had her back turned and wasn't looking… and she'd slip away.

But unfortunately it didn't seem like that was going to happen anytime soon. The hot water was slightly sulfuric, and white colored, thank goodness, so Kagome didn't feel that embarrassed about bathing with a complete stranger. But still… it was a little weird. And Sango, for one, whose shoulder was still scarred and bleeding slightly every now and then (the jagged, pink cut on her shoulder was healing very slowly) seemed to not be bothered the slightest by the fact that they were together, completely exposed in the water. In fact many times Sango had gotten up to shift positions or get something from her wooden bucket, and Kagome had had to quickly avert her eyes, feeling incredibly awkward and blushing the color of a tomato. Not that Sango seemed to notice.

And every once in a while, the older girl would shift nervously and look over her shoulder into the density of the surrounding woods, as if she were searching for someone, her dark eyes fixating unnervingly at the rocks and trees behind which someone might conceal themselves. Eventually she would turn around again, muttering something about someone who apparently might have been watching them. Needless to say that did nothing to help Kagome relax. But… the actual hot spring sensation was heavenly.

"So… Kagome." Sango said after a while, the silence apparently getting to her. "How are you?" She asked, tones of concern apparent in her pretty voice. Of course, though, she was only faking, even if she _was_ unnervingly good at it.

"Fine." Kagome said dryly. "Considering I've been kidnapped and held against my will by you people for the past ten days."

Sango frowned a little, shifting slightly in the water before asking. "Kagome… don't you think that you could get used to it here? If you just gave us a chance?"

"I'd rather die."

The older woman looked blankly at Kagome, steadily but soon small clear teardrops began to cling her thick black lashes. Needless to say, Kagome was more than a little startled. She sat up straight at the sight of them, the water swishing gently at her motion. And she practically bit her tongue when she realized she was about to ask: "what's wrong?" You shouldn't care she reminded herself firmly. So don't ask.

"You and Kohaku… The older woman said softly, without even a trace of as sob as she smiled down at the water, brushing away her tears with the back of her hand. "I wish Naraku would stop doing this to you."

Kagome watched Sango silently, remembering vaguely that Kohaku was supposedly her missing little brother who had supposedly been "killed" by Naraku. But they were only lies.

"But at least…" Sango looked up for a moment, her smile sad. "He left _you_ whole."

Kagome felt her lips part a little bit as she stared at the bittersweet expression on Sango's pretty face. It was so sad. It was so… sincere. What if… what if she wasn't really lying?

'_No._' Kagome looked away, staring down at the milky white water, trying to ignore the way she could feel the other woman's eyes watching her. '_I'm not going to betray him…_'

After a while there was a heavy sigh, and Sango stood, her lean form dripping with water and Kagome looked quickly away again, all thoughts of pity lost as she felt her annoyance start to bubble up; she wished Sango would at least give her some sort of warning when she was just going to go and stand up like that.

"Come on," The slayer said, her voice steady and surprisingly even as she reached for the wooden tub at the edge of the spring. "Let's get going. I'll get our stuff ready."

Kagome felt her heart skip a beat as she sunk deeper into the water, her nose barely skimming the surface. This was her chance. The glitch. Sango wasn't watching, and she seemed to be distracted enough by her inner thoughts not to notice what Kagome was doing. She would just slip under the water quietly, sinking just deep enough so that she wouldn't be visible under the snow colored murk and then she'd slip away to the other side of the bank and start running for it. Hopefully, it would work.

Quietly she took a breath through her nose, her entire body tense with nerves as she tried to be as silent as possible. And all the while the woman named Sango seemed to be distracted. Kagome slipped lower into the water, so only her eyes were above her surface now, her hair still tied up in a damp cloth at the top of her head. She watched Sango carefully and prepared to go all the way under, when a light breeze suddenly picked up, moving the woman's hair away from her back.

Kagome gasped, and promptly choked on the burning liquid that invaded her lungs. She came up sputtering and coughing like an idiot, attracting, no doubt, the woman's attention. Sango turned around quickly, brown eyes wide as she regarded Kagome, startled.

"What the- Kagome?"

"That scar…" Kagome said hoarsely, her throat still a little tender from her hacking. "The one on your back… what happened?"

Sango unconsciously reached back to put a finger to the scar, meeting the still tender flesh and flinching unconsciously. She smiled again, but the emotion never really reached her eyes. "Oh this old thing?" She said softly. "Kohaku gave me this… years ago."

Kagome stared in wonder. The fake little brother? Last time she checked fake brothers didn't leave scars like that. And neither did real brothers as a matter of fact. Not normal ones anyway.

"It's really not nearly as bad as it used to be. I'm surprised you even noticed it."

Kagome backed away a little in horror. Not noticed it? How could she have possibly been expected to _not notice it_? It was horrible. A large area of pale red flesh, that spread across Sango's middle back, a cruel splatter-shaped scar that stretched up the woman's spine. Its gruesome pink colored flesh was a startling contrast to the girl's cream-colored skin.

What in god's name had happened to her? What had that fake little brother _done_? She opened her mouth, about to ask, when suddenly there was a deafening crack that drowned out her words and made her jump out of her skin. Both girl's gasped, and whipped around to stare at the still forest. There was a pound, and the Earth shook a little, ripples forming on the formerly still surface of the spring.

"What was that?" Kagome asked, just as another pound created another tremor, stronger than the last one, and nearly knocking her off the rock on which she was perched. Her first instinct was earthquake, but it was too rhythmic… it almost sounded like… footsteps. Big footsteps. And what was that hair-raising feeling spreading over her body and gripping at her chest. That cold-fear feeling… she knew she had felt it before.

"A demonic aura." Sango said softly, staring in the direction of the crack. For a long time they both remained silent and still, their eyes trained unwaveringly on the woods, looking for the source of the sound. But soon Sango spoke again. "Kagome… get out of the water."

Slowly, Kagome stood, her had closed in a fist over her chest as she continued to stare wide-eyed at the forest. Something was coming.

"Kagome get out of the water _now_!" Sango commanded, her voice now completely different from the soft tones she had been using before. Obediently Kagome scrambled out of the water, grabbing a towel that had been waiting on the ground for her and throwing it around her still-wet body.

"What is it?" She asked nervously as Sango wrapped a towel around her own dampened figure. The dry cloth clung to the drops of water greedily.

"It sounds like something big…" Sango said absent mindedly, studying the sky-line above the trees instead of the forest itself. "Maybe an ogre."

"And ogre!" Kagome asked, her voice raising slightly. "What do you mean, an _ogre_!"

"Just get down and act small." Sango commanded, stepping forwards instead of back, as if to face the "ogre" that was coming in their direction. "They can't see that well."

"And what about you?" Kagome demanded, her annoyance at the inconvenient timing starting to grab at her. She had been so _close_.

"I'll be alright." Sango replied grimly, putting her fingers to her lips and whistling shrilly.

Kagome nearly had a heart attack. If the ogre hadn't know where they were before, it would definitely know where they were _now_. She let out an exasperated noise. "Don't draw _attention_ to us!" She cried, sounding a little angry… but mostly just afraid.

Sango smiled. "I need someone."

Kagome's heart stopped. Was she calling Inuyasha? For some bogus reason she couldn't help but hope that she was. But all her hopes were dashed to the ground and stomped on when a sudden cat like cry sounded through the air, followed by another pound and tremor.

"And _that_?" Kagome asked weakly, feeling a bit over whelmed.

"Just Kilala."

"Oh." Kagome felt her nerves settle a little. She knew the fire cat well enough by now. She alone had played her part in stopping Kagome from escaping several times already. Despite how cute she was in her mini, kitten-like form, Kagome couldn't help but think of her with a little bit of resentment.

"Kagome get behind that rock."

"But-"

"You don't have a weapon, remember?" Sango said, giving her a small smile. "You'll be safe if you stay out of sight."

"What about you?" Kagome asked as she started hesitantly toward the rock.

"I have Kilala coming. I'll be fine." Sango said as she stooped down to collect some palm-sized rocks, no doubt for throwing if proven necessary. "Now go get yourself under cover."

Kagome looked at the woman skeptically, feeling a little guilty that she was about to run and hide while Sango was about to go and face a ogre. An ogre who was apparently large enough to practically knock her over when it took a single step. And also an ogre who was snapping something… though she couldn't imagine what.

CRASH

"Kagome, go!"

Reluctantly, Kagome clutched her towel around her and dove behind the nearby rock, crouching like a child. She couldn't help but feel a little helpless. And why was this woman protecting her again? She had to wonder, but soon her stream of thoughts were cut short. The ogre came into view. And he was huge. So huge that she could see him towering over the rock she was crouching under from yards away. His head almost poked up above the canopy… almost.

She felt her breath abandon her. And as the ogre approached, a giant tree trunk clutched in his hand, she thought she saw a hint of something on his back. Was that a scar? He turned and squinted with small beady black eyes at the forest floor below, giving Kagome got a clear view of what it was she was trying to see. On his beefy, fleshy green back stretched a large spider shaped scar.

Kagome cringed as that sickening feeling returned to her with enough force to crush her into the ground. It was the same feeling she had had in the under-cellar room. What was this?

SNAP!

Kagome jumped, and her head whipped up to look at what caused the noise. She gasped a little when she realized. The tree trunk that the ogre had had clutching in his hand was now snapped in two, little splinters of wood raining down on her and pricking her skin… drawling blood. She turned her head down to shield her eyes, her towel slipping as she moved her arms to cover her head.

'_Great…_' Kagome thought to herself once the shower was over. '_I'm so dead._'

**A/N**: GRRR! Once again this is a cut off! Jeez! Well anyways let me know what you're thinking. Maybe I should just post everything at the same time. Since for some weird reason the chapter never ends and I keep on having to cleave chunks off of it. But hey, at least the updates are coming up faster neh? Let me know if I'm losing my style because it kind of feels like it. Oh and just so you know the next chapter is called "The Things I'd do for You." Or something along those lines. Sounds promising don't it:D See ya then.


	22. The Things I'd do for You

**Twenty-Second Chapter: The Things I'd do for You**

**A/N**:** QT**, the cookie is yours. ;) and **animefanatic**: I'm sorry to hear about your sister… I'll try to give out a warning next time I do something like that in a chapter. So speaking of which, this one might be a little bloody, maybe you can read it and then summarize it for her so she doesn't have to freak out. Also, to everyone: I'm sorry that I took so much longer to update than I said I would. Let's see, a few days versus over a week… heh heh… oops. But in my defense I would have updated on the 14th, but my internet connection was down again for some reason. I really have to figure out what's making my computer _do_ this again! And the fight scene STILL sucks!

**Disclaimer**: See chapter 18 or something…

**The Things I'd do for You**

Inuyasha and Miroku were several miles away from the hot springs, on the other side of the village, both still contemplating the "Kagome Situation". Inuyasha, who was losing his patience with all this blood-boiling thinking anyway, was able to hear the ogre long before he could actually smell it. Which was a rarity. But when he did finally recognize its scent he felt an all too familiar white-hot rage come slamming down on him. He was standing in an instant, furious, his hand gripping the handle of Tetsuya so tightly that his knuckles and were colorless and his fingertips red.

"It's Naraku's scent." He spat as Miroku rose and stretched casually. "Another one of his incarnations."

"Oh joy. And his timing continues to be convenient, as usual."

"Come on."

When they reached Kaede's hut, Inuyasha threw open the curtain door and started into the house, his form jerking to a stop when he saw what lay before him. Nothing. The hut was empty. He stared for a moment, his expression blank, one foot still in the doorway while Miroku leaned forward, looking in over the hanyou's shoulder curiously. The silence was cut short when another earth-shaking footstep made the walls rock, flakes of dust and dirt fluttering down from the rafters.

"They're not here." Miroku said plainly, his voice enraging Inuyasha with its matter-of-fact tone.

"I _noticed_ that, thanks!" Inuyasha snapped angrily, his golden eyes blazing. "Damn it! Now I have to track them down! We don't have _time_ for this."

Sango hadn't had time to change. Instead she was running across the borders of the hot spring, throwing rocks at the ogre's eyes and making sloppy attacks with her Hiraikotsu, which Kilala had brought along, in nothing but a rather short, white towel.

'_Perfect…_' She thought sarcastically to herself. '_Now of all times…'_

She cursed loudly as she mounted the fire-cat, wet skin sticking against the fur as she held the Hiraikotsu up with one hand, her other desperately clutching the small piece of linen around her body, the stones collected in the nook of her bent arm.

"Hiraikotsu!"

With a powerful circular movement that coursed up from her shoulder to her fingertips she set the Hiraikotsu loose, the huge boomerang spinning from her grip with an incredible, raw force that made the air hum. She didn't miss. She never did.

The Hiraikotsu tore a bloody gash across the ogre's pale green face, dark red liquid spurting out everywhere, splattering loudly on the forest floor, coating the trees… the leaves, Sango nearly choked on the smell. The ogre meanwhile was furious, its painful scream shook the ground as it staggered towards her blindly, the red gushing from the raw, torn up flesh, as it clawed at the air. "It hurts us!" He roared, his voice deep and raspy and almost incomprehensible. "Filthy humans! I'll kills it!"

Sango grinded her teeth at the insult, waiting as the Hiraikotsu spun behind the demon's head and started to loop back around, reversing directions to come back. "You wish." She muttered under her breath as Kilala dodged a claw.

"Sango!"

The sound of her name surprised her so much that she nearly missed the Hiraikotsu on its return path. A relieved feeling washed over her when she saw who had called her name. "Miroku!" At last she had some back up. Though it came in the form of a breathless monk and hanyou.

The monk, however, stopped short upon seeing that her body was only barely wrapped up in a towel above him. His murky violet eyes widened and traveled slowly downwards, the corner of his lips twitching upward in a poor attempt to keep the silly grin from taking over his face.

But Sango was following the direction of his eyes. "Not _now_ you perv!" She screeched, grabbing a stone to chuck at his head. She only missed by inches, too flustered to be able to aim straight.

Miroku merely looked down at the discarded stone with mild interest before smiling back up at her. Her stare was icy enough to freeze over the hot spring beside him. With a casual shrug of his shoulders and a knowing smile that irked her to no end, he moved to face the ogre, whose flying hands were raking the branches from the trees, causing bark and sap to come down in little showers, along with the rain-like drops of blood.

Sango watched Miroku carefully as he reached into his robes and pulled out two rectangular slips of rice paper, praying over them diligently with a bowed head. '_Sacred Sutras._' She thought tartly to herself as blue flame began to lick at the corners of the paper and slowly spread down towards his fingers. It amazed her that the man had the power invoke anything even remotely holy anymore, considering his habits…

"Ah!" Sango was given a harsh reality check as the ogre's claws made a dangerous swipe at Kilala. Forcing the cat to veer off in the other direction. Sango clutched tightly at the sandy fur to keep herself from falling off, the gravity-defying lurch making her stomach shrink. "Kilala!"

The demon was only able to growl.

Behind the massive boulder, Kagome was as crouched low as she could be, trying hard to keep herself out of sight like Sango had instructed her to do. But she couldn't keep herself from watching. Her cocoa brown eyes watched, widened in fear as the battle unfolded before her. She felt so helpless… just watching like that.

'_It's going to kill them… That thing is going to kill them…'_ Her mind was racing. '_I have to do something… don't I? **Can't **I?_'

She watched as Inuyasha and the monk, or "houshi" as she referred to him, arrived on the scene together, looking breathless and worried. Inuyasha was shouting something about someone to the slayer, and in response Sango jerked her head at the boulder Kagome was hiding behind. He seemed satisfied as he immediately drew his gigantic sword at the monster and began to slice at its ankles while it, in turn, tried to stomp on him as if he were an ant.

The people, those three people, each struggling so hard against that _thing_ in front of her: In the air the slayer was breathing raggedly through an open mouth, a bloody gash on her right cheek painfully visible from fifteen feet in the air. Below her the Monk was slicing furiously at the thick green flesh with Inuyasha now, his golden staff dripping with the redness that already coated the forest floor.

The smell was enough to make Kagome throw up. The ogre and the two men on land sloshed noisily through mini-rivers of it. In the air, the slayer's reflection sometimes was caught on the few still puddles of the blood, crimson liquid soaking slowly into the dirt, staining the milky white water of the hot springs a light color of pink. The blood was everywhere. And not just the ogre's blood now… but their blood too. They were all injured, wounded, but still fighting…and there she was hiding behind a rock.

"No." She said firmly as an unfamiliar feeling washed through her. A determined feeling. Her jaw was locked tightly as she stood up and stepped out from behind the rock, ignoring the gut-wrenching sensation of exposed vulnerability that threatened to send her back behind the boulder. '_This isn't right_. _I have to help them. Somehow…._'

Inuyasha's arm hurt. A lot. The blood from a deep cut dripped down his skin and soaked through the sleeve of his haori, making it stick firmly to the flesh. The ogre had managed to give him a nasty tear when he hadn't been quite quick enough to dodge a falling claw. He could still feel the sharp, throb of the unprotected wound, damaged skin starting to rot a little in the filthy air. It was a searing pain, but it would be gone by tomorrow. So he ignored it.

"You wanna piece of me, you filthy demon? Come on over here and get it!" He called angrily to the ogre, taunting the it in an effort to advert its attention to him. He brandished his sword into the light, although now it was so thickly coated in dark blood that there was no reflection from the sun. The ogre heard him, however, and it turned its head slowly around to face him. Its small black eyes, foggy with redness squinted down at him before recognition dawned and he roared in fury.

"Yeah that's right!" Inuyasha goaded him on. "I'm the one that you – ugh!" The massive hand connected with his chest and sent him flying backwards, knocking his breath out of his body as it smashed with the wall of rock surrounding the hot spring. It crumbled on impact and crushed him to the ground, muffling his colorful curses as it knocked around his senses. He felt thick a dizzy for a while, a numb pain spreading across his limbs for a moment before he mentally shook it off.

"Inuyasha! Did you _have_ to _ask_ for it!" Demanded an angry and vaguely annoyed voice. For a moment he didn't recognize it.

"Shut up, Miroku!" Inuyasha finally snapped as he heaved the rocks off of his chest, groaning with the effort. He was still al little disoriented after he had worked himself free and pushed himself to a shaky sit, resting his head momentarily in his hand as he tried to make his vision straighten out. What a punch. And then… through the buzz of his headache there was a voice. A loud, determined, beautiful, voice that rang clear and strong, like a bell through the ogre's moaning and the sound of hard fighting.

"Hey ugly! Over here!"

Inuyasha's focus came crashing back to him, his head snapping up in a fraction of a second. It was Kagome. There she was, standing there in the open. Waving her arms frantically back and forth like she was trying to take off. Drawing _attention_ to herself. Panic gripped at him without warning, cold fear jolting him back to life like an electric shock.

"No, you idiot!" he yelled, scrambling to his feet. "What are you _doing_!"

But the ogre, Naraku's incarnation, recognized Kagome. He knew what he was looking for, and despite the fact that the blood was still burning in his eyes, he could knew his target had emerged. However, he was lost in a blood rage. And that meant that the only thing he had left on his mind was killing. The only thing he was capable of was killing. And he _would_ kill her. Inuyasha felt his blood chill when he realized.

Kagome jumped out from behind the rock, watching as the thing wrenched a tree up from the ground with a deafening rip and began using it as a bat to try and smash Sango and her cat, clods of dirt and root flying everywhere.

'_What can I do_?' She thought frantically to herself, standing dumbly for a moment. '_What can I **do**…? The only thing I can think of is…_' Then it occurred to her. That was it.

"Hey!"

She started waving her arms in the air to try and get the ogre's attention. "Ugly!" If she couldn't fight it, "Over here!" She would just distract it.

There was a moment where both Sango and Miroku stopped what they were doing and turned around to look at her, the expression on their faces exactly the same: horrified shock.

And then, "No you idiot! What are you _doing_!" Kagome heard Inuyasha shouting from somewhere but she couldn't understand the words. Because now the ogre was turning too, looking at her, and for three terrifying, dead-time seconds, she realized the stupidity of what she had just instinctively done. She could only gasp as the thing started towards her, its large reaching hand bloody and powerful, and coming right for her, moving in a deadly swinging motion.

It was going to rip out her stomach… tear off her face… probably take off an arm or a leg or something… And she was suddenly paralyzed. All she could do was close her eyes tightly and wait, the impact sure to come.

But it didn't.

Instead, a pair of rock-hard arms constricted around her body, crushing all the breath out of her lungs, yanking her forwards as she fell tightly into a something solid. She opened her eyes and tried to gasp but the air wasn't there. A thin, yet impossibly hard material was blocking her, the same material as that night… Suddenly Kagome pushed back against the stranger's chest, and came face to face with his piercing golden eyes. He was looking right at her.

She felt her mouth open, her eyes widening in terror as the sickening rip filled her ears. She could only take one breath. One, short, hollow-sounding breath that she as she stared in shock at Inuyasha. His form lurched forward a bit, his mouth opening as the smell of new blood slapped her in the face. But she found that was just… trapped… with him looking at her… in a never-ending moment.

She stared at Inuyasha, her eyes impossibly wide, her skin paper-white pale. And as she looked at him, as he looked at her, she saw could see the agonizing pain washing over his expression. And also… in his eyes there was relief… for her.

Kagome felt slow horror start to sink in as Inuyasha's arms tightened around her body... protectively, pulling her closer, soaking her skin throughthe towelwith his hot, red blood. But she didn't feel it. She only stared in fear, her breath trapped, bottled tightly in her lungs.

"Inuyasha." She whispered finally, her voice shaky and barely above a whisper. He didn't respond.

Slowly, together, they began to fall backwards. Inuyasha's body no longer able to hold itself up straight. It all seemed to happen in slow motion, time clogged in her brain, their bodies falling simultaneously at the pace of dripping molasses. And Kagome could only stare at him, horrified, his arms still tightly crushed around her. He started to look at her… so gently. And she knew he was happy… just because she was safe.

A whisper curled across her mind as the corners of her vision began to fade into darkness... a voice inside her head.

'_I was afraid…_'

She inhaled sharply as they hit the ground. The back of Kagome's head slamming into something sharp and hard. She was knocked unconscious in a fraction of a second. And a memory returned.

* * *

**A/N**: Short I know. That's because its just another chunk. But don't worry because I'm posting everything today, all at once. So if you don't have the "next" button down there by the chapters, then just type the number into the address. Ok? Cool. See ya then. 


	23. The Heartache Begins

**The Heartache Begins**

* * *

**A/N**: The other name I was thinking about using was "These Dreams" but I decided against it… I'm not sure why. Maybe I'll change the name if you all like it better… not that it matters. Whatever. Ok so this is finally the end of that huge chapter I kept on cleaving chunks out of. It's… um… kind of a mess. Enjoy. 

**Disclaimer**: See the chapter instructed to see in the last chapter.

* * *

The Heartache Begins... 

She was walking in a forest… somewhere… dappled yellow sunlight swaying gently over a thin path that had been treaded into the ground over a long amount of time. Walking a few steps in front of her was a man with long silver hair… it must have been Inuyasha. It _was_ Inuyasha. She knew that somehow. As he moved, his silver mane swayed to the side, revealing that the back of his haori was covered in rusty colored bloodstains. But she found that she had already known that they were there, and she wasn't surprised.

They passed a patch of herbs growing on the floor and instantly she recognized them. She dropped to the ground, examining the new discovery like a child, excitedly listing their names and what they did to the man standing beside her, knowing that he'd stopped to wait.

"This is a great antitoxin, but boy, does it sting…" She cringed. "I'll brew some up for you later, ok?" She said as she fingered the light green leaves with her thumb and fingers. "It'll work really well, I promise."

She looked up and found that Inuyasha was smiling at her… gently. She felt her body shiver, though the image was growing milky.

"Kagome…" He said her name slowly, his golden eyes were warm, the smile that he was smiling, for once, was reaching his eyes as his face began to fade. "You've gotten a lot stronger."

And then there was a well. Standing alone in a column of dusty yellow sunlight, old polished wood gleaming in its clearing while thick ropey vines clutched at its lip, an occasional silver-colored flower blossoming up to look at her… Kagome didn't really recognize it… but at the same time it seemed like the most familiar thing in the world.

'_The Bone Eater's Well…_' The thoughts drifted lazily across her mind as she stared at it, captivated by something she couldn't find with her eyes. Things were happening that she couldn't quite remember. The dream was fuzzy and pieced together like an old puzzle, she knew some of the pieces were missing.

Inuyasha had moved past her so silently that she almost didn't notice, his red sleeve brushing against her white one gently. He sat at the base of the well, looking at her before casting his eyes down at the ground… she could feel him sinking away from her, distancing himself. But she didn't know why.

And then they were talking… about something… a battle with a man. As he spoke to her, tones of worry surfaced in his voice… making her feel badly about something. She fingered a lump on the back of her head, embarrassed. As she asked "Me?" She tried to meet his eyes for a moment, but they were trained carefully on the forest floor, as if making a point to not look up at her. Typical Inuyasha.

"I've got a little bump, that's all." She heard herself saying as while she looked at him. There were sudden flashbacks of hot yellow lights, crackling with energy and humming with power. They came streaking towards her, slicing through the ground, cutting up the dirt, racing like stretching fingers of lightening… no way to dodge. And something red crashed into her with the force of a freight train… knocking her backwards and out of the way… somehow it was Inuyasha.

The flashback ended and she was back in the forest. She looked down at the hanyou before her who was still studying the ground. There was silence. Thick and heavy and pressing down on her steadily… it felt like she was sinking in an ocean of noiselessness. For a moment she wondered if the whole thing was even real.

"I'm sorry." Inuyasha finally said, his voice low and quiet. "To put you in such danger…"

They kept on talking… he was thinking about danger. She was thinking about the blood smeared over his chest. At some point there was a little pang in her own chest, feeling as if someone had lightly tapped her on her heart. Pity. Pity for Inuyasha and his pain…

Things in the dream started to become clearer.

"Kagome…" The hanyou's dark brows knit together in a frown, his tone a little hard. "Aren't you afraid?" He demanded, his voice rising while his face hardened.

She realized that she was angry. It hadn't been the question that had offended her. It was the way he asked it. The way his tone seemed to be calling her stupid for not being afraid, as if he were trying to teach a lesson to an over confident child. Imagine… Inuyasha lecturing someone about over confidence…

Kagome opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off, leaning forwards a little to get confrontationally in her face.

"This time we were lucky!" he snapped, his anger clearly rising. "But who _knows _about _next time_!"

The dream was vivid now. She could suddenly feel the slight breeze in the air. Remember the way the grass had felt brushing at her ankles and the soft earth beneath her knees as she sat down in front of him. She could sense the soaking warmth of the sun. And her feelings were clearer too. Her thoughts as loud as anything.

She was outraged. There he was, sitting in front of her, bleeding through his stomach and telling her that _she_ had been the lucky one. A bump on the head that was all… but he had almost died. He was still bleeding.

"I'm _not_ afraid!" She said angrily, leaning forward to get equally up in his face, watching for his reaction to her rage, but not seeing any. He only stared at her stonily, his expression hard and blank, it unnerved her a little, but her eyes flashed to the blood on his chest and her resolve hardened as much as his expression. "Besides what does that matter compared to _your _injur-"

His hand closed around her wrist and pulled her forwards into his arms. She was caught in stillness… painfully aware of the clarity with which his gentle callused hand sifted through her hair and rested on the back of her neck, his other arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her closer… to him.

Her heart jolted as she realized… he was holding her. Bringing her into his arms like he cared about her. She could feel him tilting his face into her hair and inhaling lightly as something tightened in her chest. She wanted suddenly to cry. A strange feeling washing over her… a wonderful, bittersweet, aching feeling. She had never felt it before. In her dreams or in reality… it was something different.

Her body was rigid like a board in his arms. She couldn't think. She couldn't hold onto a thought long enough to understand it before it was ripped away and replaced with something else, more confusing. She didn't even notice that the silence had returned. Her ears were roaring.

"Inuyasha…" She whispered, her eyes wide and staring out into the forest. She wanted to ask so many questions: What do you think you're doing? Why? What's going on? What does this mean… Anything? Do you _want _it to? Do _I_ want it to? But the words wouldn't come. She couldn't even remember them as his arms tightened protectively around her, cradling her…. She could hear him inhaling her scent again… he was being so gentle… and yet… she felt like nothing could break through that moment… or stop him from holding her that way…

He had told her once that he liked her scent… that he had been lying to her when he said he hated it. Granted that he had been poisoned and delusional at the moment, but it had her made her heart flutter a bit… now she it was pounding… her breath was shallow and shaky, her throat drying until she thought it might crack.

"I was afraid."

The whisper brought her a little to her senses… the same whisper. She listened to his soft voice slowly, trying to understand. Trying to be careful… but it didn't make sense. It did, however, pull her back into reality.

"I thought that you might die…" he pulled her a little closer, making her lose her train of thought again. She was wonderfully breathless… and he was holding her _so_ tightly, his body was curled over hers as if he were shielding her from something. And all she could focus on was the way his body felt… pressed up against hers, holding her. "I thought I was going to lose you… I was terrified."

That brought her back to her senses. "What?" '_Inuyasha…_' The sweet, aching feeling returned again in a wave, overcoming her in seconds, filling her body until there wasn't room for anything else. She didn't know what it was.

His arms suddenly loosened, and then he was throwing her to the ground, forcefully. She barely caught herself in time to keep her face from smashing into the well. "Hey!" She whipped around to look up at him. He was standing over her now, looking down at her with cold eyes. "What do you think you're doing, Inuyasha!" She said as she pushed herself up to a stand, embarrassed that she hadn't acted before… when he had been holding her like that… when that feeling had been there.

He stared at her grimly for a moment, expression deadly serious… just like his brother's. He lifted his hand to show her something, she gasped when she saw the ½ crystal glimmering from the chain in his hand. He tucked it into the side of his pants, and met her gaze again. His face just as stonily determined as it had been before.

"Go home."

"What?"

"Go home to your own time, Kagome!"

Without warning, Inuyasha reached out with his hand, and roughly shoved her backwards. She gasped as she felt her knee connect with the wooden lip, making her fall into emptiness. She saw her hand extend for his, automatically reaching out for the hand that never moved to catch her own. A vague feeling of betrayal pierced at her heart, where the sweet ache had come from, though by now it had disappeared. He hadn't caught her. He had pushed her.

She screamed while her body free fell into nothingness, her hand still reaching for him as his face came back into view. For a moment he was watching her quietly as she fell, his golden eyes so sad and longing, and the sweet ache returned as she felt herself hit the ground.

Kagome shot up from her bed with a start, her form rigid and shaking in the night. Her breath was hard and rapid, sending the warmth from her mouth into the chilly black air. She gripped at the sheets around her waist and tore them off her body. They had been pressing down on her like lead weights. Nothing made sense. But at least she wasn't falling anymore.

The room was dimly lit with candles. And a large fire crackled inside an open pit in the center of the room. Kagome stared at it, her eyes moving slowly around the hut. It was the same one she had been held in for the past ten days and from the look of it, no one else was around.

Then her eyes fell on the body. His body. For a moment she thought he was dead she was frozen to the spot, her breath caught inside her throat. '_Oh God… i-is he…_' But when her eyes saw the way his form rose slowly up and down, steadily in a rhythm, she let out a breath of relief. He was breathing. '_He's alive._'

And it was a good thing too. Because Kagome didn't think she could handle finding another dead body in her room with her. Thoughts of Tetsuya flashed into her mind and she pushed them away, only allowing herself to linger on the thoughts of his dull green eyes…

She closed her own brown ones tightly against the thought before she looked back at Inuyasha's figure, lying flat on the hut floor a couple feet away, his body stretched out across the wood in front of the fire. His eyes closed and his face turned towards her. His back was bare, his haori peeled away and falling at his waist. Kagome frowned a little. That was weird.

There was a cloth lying over him, covering from his waist to the bottom of his shoulder blades. The corners, which rested on the floor, were weighted down with large gray stones and the cloth that was touching his back was stained heavily… with blood.

Kagome felt numbed as she looked at him. She recognized the position. It was an old fashioned way of trying to stop a wound from bleeding before the bandages were applied. Though how she knew that she had no idea. It was good to give a bleeding injury some air before you confined it with the wrappings, otherwise you might risk making the flesh rot. And even after you did bandage it, you would have to change them often. But she didn't know why she knew that either.

As she stared at him, she thought about the dream. He had been injured then too… but she couldn't think of what had happened to him. She couldn't really remember this time's injury either. But it must have been from the battle earlier that day.

She felt as if she weren't in control of her own body as she slowly crawled forwards to him. His figure illuminated and washed with the golden glow of the firelight. He looked so… peaceful…. almost angelic, for once. With his sleeping face and little silver-gold ears illuminated by the fire… She wondered vaguely to herself, what she thought she was doing as she watched her hand reach out and move the rocks off the corners closest to her. She became aware of smell… an awful coppery smell and she recognized it vaguely… from somewhere. But she didn't bother to try to remember what it was as slowly, her fingers grasped the thin, weathered fabric, and moved the sheet away from the wound. It stuck a little as she peeled it off… she wondered why.

Kagome heard herself gasp and her hand automatically flew to her mouth to cover it. It was awful. Blood was everywhere, caked over everything, which explained why the sheet had stuck so badly when she removed it. Four long gashes had been cut deeply into Inuyasha's back. Bloody, torn flesh hung from the open injury as little bits of white poked through the gaping red muscle, all angelic appearances about him were instantly lost.

She absorbed the sight slowly, unable to take her eyes away. He had been cut to the bone. Surely he couldn't still be alive. But she could see him breathing… watch his shallow yet steady breathing and she knew that he was alive. It didn't make any sense. But that didn't matter. Like she had said before… nothing seemed to make sense anymore. Nothing seemed to matter either.

She couldn't help herself as her hand slowly floated over the wound, barely not touching it, shaking a little in the golden-red firelight. The blood glistened beneath her hand. It was enough to make her sick.

"This…" She whispered softly, tears starting to burn into her eyes. "Is because of… me." She almost couldn't hear herself. But she knew it was true. Earlier that day when she had been trying to distract the ogre from the others… and he had…

She looked away finally, closing her eyes and clenching her hand into a fist over his back. She was still shaking as she put it over her chest. What could she do? She opened her eyes and stared at the dimly lit door. Was there anything that she could do? And _why_ had he done that. _Why_? There hadn't been any reason for it. So why would he ever even think about…

Her eyes fell on an open container of salve. It was placed on the floor down by his lower leg, the white cream glistening in the firelight. She could see the disruptions where fingers had already reached in and scooped some of it out. It had most likely been for him. She stared at it for a while, feeling as if time had stopped for a bit. He was her enemy… and yet… She couldn't stand it. He had gotten hurt. He was bleeding. And a thin residue of that sweet, aching feeling she had felt in the dream was still coating her heart. Thoughtlessly she reached for the salve and held it in her palm, staring at it. "It's the least…. I can do." She said slowly, bring her eyes back to the wound and studying it… feeling numb. "I guess."

Carefully she dipped her fingers into the cream, its luke-warmth surprising her a little as she caked it onto her fingertips. And slowly, she moved her hand to his back. At first she was afraid to touch it… but… she _had _to. Carefully, she smoothed the semi-clear whiteness around the borders of the cuts, making sure not to be careless enough to let any go deep enough to touch the bone. She shuddered as she glanced at the little white teeth-like spots and wondered for the second time how he could even still be alive.

She didn't notice that Inuyasha had woken up.

His golden eyes cracked open slightly in the darkness. He couldn't really focus, neither could he see, his consciousness was drifting in and out of the thick, warm darkness inside himself… his expression was blank. But he could smell her scent, and knew she was sitting next to him. Sun-dried chamomile… jasmine and vanilla lilacs… honeysuckles… So he wasn't alone. She was there. She was safe, and alive. And that was all he needed to know to drift back into a peaceful sleep. She would never notice.

While she worked, Kagome began to feel a blanket of regret and sadness start to sink over her shoulders, mixing with the sweet aching feeling from the dream, and gradually pressing harder until she was on the brink of silent tears. She knew she shouldn't be feeling it, least of all for him. But she couldn't help it. "Inuyasha…" She said softly as she dipped her fingers back into the salve. "Why would you do such a stupid thing like this for…?" She couldn't finish the question as her fingers brushed over the edges of cuts with the white salve. He would have to be sewn up tomorrow. She would have done it then if she knew where she could find a needle and thread. It was a miracle that he was still alive. "You idiot…" She said softly as she blinked her tears away. "You stupid idiot…"

She found that while she tended to the bloodied tissue she was free to think… about anything she wanted. In particular she thought about him and the last ten days she had spent there… trapped. She thought about what had happened earlier that afternoon with the ogre and she thought about the way he had seemed to be relieved that she was okay as they began to fall. She thought about the dream and how he had pushed her… the way he had held her… the feelings it had given her, and slowly a thought began to form:

"What if… I _am_ Kagome?" She asked quietly, her voice barely a whisper. "What if… I am? Would that even be… possible?" As she continued to spread the salve, she thought about what being Kagome would mean… and the possibilities started to surface in her mind. Horrifying, dark, possibilities, looming up to haunt her. She didn't like them at all.

What would being Kagome mean…? That she had been ignoring the truth… had been being stupid the whole time… would have to start all over… again. With no idea who she was… and… Naraku lying to her.

No. _No_.

That last thing was something she couldn't accept. She _wouldn't_.

Naraku loved her… he had given her her life back and showed her who she was. And if that was a lie… then everything she knew…was false. Everything she cared about… gone, empty, an illusion. Her world would fall out from underneath her, her reality, and all her hopes crumbling away on a rotting foundation of lies. The past that she had been trying to discover… her very identity, everything, falling through her fingers like sand.

She couldn't accept that… her hands were shaking… she couldn't deal with that. She wouldn't go down that road. She oculdn't. She took a ragged breath. She had to be Sayuri. She was Sayuri. She was safe… as long as she could believe that that was who she really was. It was who she _wanted _to be… she tried to convince herself that Kagome was the lie. She knew who she was. Of course she did.

But then., what about Inuyasha? Was he just insane? Why had he kidnapped her? Why did he insist on lying to her? Protecting her? Acting like he cared… and coming into her dreams… dreams that always seemed so real… memories. Like the last one.

God she was so confused. She pressed her lips tightly together as she re-closed the cloth over the hanyou's back. Why was this so hard? A few seconds go she had almost believed him. She had almost entered that dangerous world where she was Kagome and everything she knew to be true was a lie. It was because of him… him and that sweet, aching feeling that had come from her dream. He was breaking her, steadily. And she knew it. But the frightening part of it was… that a part of her had grown to actually want to believe in him. She _had_ almost believed him. She had almost admitted to herself that she had started to … care about him.

She felt herself stop, her body numb with shock. Care about him? She looked down at Inuyasha's sleeping form, so peaceful, so sweet. Where had that thought come from? Was he really getting to her that badly? Was she really starting to…

Suddenly she started to feel afraid. She was Sayuri… and she had Naraku, a man who cared for and loved her. She was Kagome… and what did she have then? A false past. A lost dream. A harsh reality that she had fallen for something that wasn't real. The knowledge that she had allowed herself to trust the wrong person. That was all she'd have. She didn't want that. She wanted to be Sayuri. And that meant that she'd have to forget and destroy the way she was starting to feel about Inuyasha… before it turned out that she couldn't.

But that felt so wrong. A part of her didn't think she could. The sweet aching feeling from her dream… did she even want it to go away? Again her thoughts came back to the thought. '_If you feel this way about him… maybe he's telling the truth._'

She bit her lip tightly to try and stop the tears. No. Not possible. She couldn't… she didn't want to… did she? Every time she thought about Inuyasha she became afraid… and confused, she felt like she was being pulled into a hundred different directions, and she wanted to go every way… but she couldn't. And she was breaking under the pressure… there were too many pieces… to many directions… Everything was just so wrong. He was a liar. Why did she feel that way about him? Was it because of the dream? A memory? Why couldn't things have just turned out right for once?

"Just once…" She said quietly as she sealed the jar of salve and put it back by Inuyasha leg. "I wish I could know what I'm supposed to do…"

She still felt indebted to Naraku, the man who had been there for her. And she wanted to believe him. And Inuyasha had taken and held her against her will. Murdered Tetsuya's parents and was still Naraku's enemy. But now… these feelings… all from that one dream. She felt horrible about herself for even dreaming it. She felt as if just dreaming that dream was the same as betraying Naraku in the worst way. She didn't want to betray him. She wanted to be with him.

But Inuyasha had protected her today, and held her in a dream where she cared about him. Put his own life on the line for her… the proof was right there in front of her, lying beneath the bloodstained cloth. The price he had had to pay… she couldn't forget that. And she couldn't forget about the sweet aching either… no matter how much she wanted or tried to. Well… then she'd just have to try harder, and get back to Naraku sooner… right? She worried her lip, frustrated. She wasn't sure.

And the more Kagome thought about it, the more she became frustrated and confused, the more pieces she broke into, the more directions she as pulled… she was so tired. And a dull throbbing feeling was beginning to creep into her chest. She felt like she was missing something… like she was empty on the inside, and reaching for something to fill. She had been aware of it before… a little… but had never really paid enough attention it, dismissing it as a part of her missing her past. But now it was growing stronger. A needing feeling. An empty feeling. The exact opposite of the way she had felt in the dream with Inuyasha holding her. And she was tired to the point of tears.

Finally she gave in. She was tired of thinking. She was tired of being pulled on. So with a heavy sigh, she wiping her hands on her already filthy dress and laid her head down on the ground gently, her face beside Inuyasha's. Her body inches away from Inuyasha's. They were almost touching.

She didn't really know why she had decided to be so close to him… she guessed she just felt safer when she was next to him, no matter how wrong that was. So she stayed there. She knew she shouldn't have. But also… she supposed that somehow, she owed it to him. For saving her life. One way or another.

She lay there for an hour, staring at him, and the hollow empty feeling in her chest began to grow along with the sweet ache from the dream. The firelight eventually turned red as the actual orange-gold flames began to die leaving red hot coals in its wake, and her thoughts drifted back to her memories of earlier that day. She moved back to the faint recollections of the feelings in her dream… not examining them, just thinking about them. Just remembering. She missed being able to remember.

As drowsiness began to over come her… slowly dulling her senses, taking away her thoughts, she found herself watching his face. It was strangely handsome, barely illuminated by the now smoldering embers in the open pit fireplace. His silver-red hair was resting against his cheek, little silver ears drooping downwards, glowing a tinted orange-red color like his skin. His expression was blank but soft. For a moment she had to keep herself from reaching out to put hand on his face… or finger his little silver ears…

She was almost completely asleep when she saw his dark golden eyes barely flit open to look at her face, his lids were heavy and barely opened… but he was looking at her. His face filled her entire vision, and for one moment, it seemed like they were the only too people in the world. She smiled at him, softly, unable to stop herself. He just looked at her, golden eyes only half awake, cracks of deep brown stretching through the core of the golden, fire-illuminated iris to meet the rim… and then gently they flit closed again. All she could do was hope he wouldn't remember it in the morning…

**

* * *

**

**A/N**: I know its bad. And confusing. (Since Kagome's supposed to be torn it actually should be rather confusing because she is confused… but I think this is just plain overboard confusing) Anyway the point is I know it sucks but I'm afraid you're just going to have to deal with it, because I can't take trying to fix it any longer. I'm moving on to other chapters and greener grass and stuff like that.

Now… a few of you may be wondering why Kagome's memory isn't the same as it is in the TV show. Well that's because I'm not using the TV show's version this time, instead I've opted to use the manga's version (you know the book with the black and white pics? Yeah… that one).

Everything is true to that book except the line: "I thought I was going to lose you… I was terrified" that's from the anime. (I had to insert it, its my favorite line:D) and the memory was supposed to be kind of fuzzy anyway so you can't really tell. The only real difference being that in the manga they don't talk about Naraku being "a terrible demon".

Anyway the memories I use that aren't original (Yes there will be a few memories that will be original to me… I mean remember it's a long time now… Kagome's like what… nineteen? Eighteen? I'm not even sure anymore) to me will be a mish-mash between the anime versions of scenes (TV show versions) and the manga versions (black and white book versions) I'll probably pull out a mix of the best of both, if they'r not mine.Ok? If anyone really has a problem with that idea then just tell me in your review… but I still might not change my mind.

**What I _plan_ to have in the next chapter **(emphasis on the word "plan" some of it might not fit in… some might just get deleted this is just my rough draft): **Chapter 24 - "Tell me about her"** – in which Kagome decides to dig into the past of this "Kagome" character Inuyasha keeps obsessing about, while the others plan to go on a search for Shippo and Kaede… will hearing about her real past help her remember anything? And how does she plan to handle her newfound feelings for Inuyasha? Also: Inuyasha figures out finally, why Kagome's so attached to Naraku. And he's not very happy. (The last part may have to be bumped to chapter 24… you never know)

**Non-spoiler Disclaimer**: I do not own the scene in Kagome's dream. It is a piece of the story line of Rumiko Takahashi's manga "Inu-Yasha" (and one line from the anime "Inuyasha") Neither do I own any of the original characters of Rumiko Takahashi's "Inu-Yasha"… Glad we have that cleared up


	24. Tell Me About Her Part One

**Chapter 23: Tell Me About Her... Part I**

**A/N**: This is my repent chapter. I know I've been gone for a while. Hope you enjoy. And by the way, **Isisoftheunderground** your review made me giggle at my own stupidity. Thanks for pointing it out, it gave me a good laugh. Well… there's nothing I can do about it now. :) oops. For the rest of you confused readers out there, in the begging of chapter 22, Inuyasha is supposed to stand up, furious and be gripping the handle of "_Tetsuigia_" **_not_ **the handle of _"Tetsuya_". (gives amused smirk) _that_ one gave me the _wrong_ mental image. ).

**Disclaimer**: See other chapters. The same rules apply. Nothing's changed. Sadly. '(

* * *

_Tell Me About Her... Part I_

Shippo and Kaede were not fine.

They were, in fact, very far from fine. They were blissful. Yes, blissful… in a high sort of way. This unexpected turn of events was no thanks to a mischievous little demon who had "spiked" the village water supply with some of her magic mushroom powder. And so the ever serious and grave village meeting quickly turned to the all out, hard-core, village party. Yes, believe it or not, Kaede was no too old to party. And Shippo, once she was 'doped up' enough to convince her, was not too young. And seeing as how water as a necessity, and no one was connected enough with their proper senses to figure out that anything was wrong, needless figure out what the cause of it all was, there was no chance of anyone snapping out of it anytime soon.

But Sango and Miroku didn't know that. And by now they were getting very worried.

OoOoOoOoOoO

"I'm worried." Sango sighed as she leaned her head back against the trunk of the tree.

"You should get some sleep." Miroku said, his head resting peacefully in her lap. "You hardly closed your eyes at all last night."

Sango smirked. "Nice try, Miroku. But we both know I'm not going to sleep when your perverted hands are anywhere near me."

The monk gave her an amused look. "That could go in more ways than one, you know…"

Sango made a face. "You're disgusting."

"I know, I know." Miroku smiled devilishly as he laced their fingers together. "But you _still_ love me, right?" He asked, raising his eyebrows and smiling again.

Sango sighed, deciding to ignore him for now. "I wish Kaede were here to help us look after him, I can't do half the job she does when it comes to bandaging."

Miroku frowned as he held their hands up in the air above his head, studying the perfect way their fingers interlocked in the light. "It's been a long time… they should have returned."

Sango was quiet for a while, her liquid brown eyes distant. "You don't think something's happened to them, do you?" She said softly. He could tell from her quiet voice that she was thinking about more loved ones being hurt. He didn't know if she would be able to handle that.

Miroku sighed heavily and brought his and Sango's hands down to rest on his chest. "That we can't know that unless we go looking for them… which we'll have to do, if they do not return soon."

"How soon is soon?" Sango asked tiredly, her eyelids dropping, scarlet eyeliner becoming more apparent, her hair illuminated in the dusty sunlight.

"We'll give them another week." Miroku said after a while, rubbing his thumb absently along the back of hers as he watched her fade. "If they don't return by then, we won't have any other choice."

"What about Kagome and Inuyasha?" Sango asked, her voice quieting. "He's still wounded, and knowing her she'd take advantage of it by trying to run off even _more_ than she usually does."

Miroku frowned, his violet eyes thoughtful. "Inuyasha should be able to walk in five days or so." He said. "And knowing his stubbornness he'll probably be up in three."

"And Kagome?"

Miroku sighed tiredly, a wry smile coming to his lips. "The words 'cart', 'gag' and 'rope' come to mine."

Sango laughed and let her head loll to the side so that her chin was resting on her shoulder, her eyes now completely closed. "As long as you don't try to do anything perverted to her when she's bound and gagged, helpless and immobile in the cart…" Her sentence drifted into silence as a certain peacefulness overcame her face. Miroku took a while just to stare before he felt a smile pull at his lips.

Damn… she knew him far too well.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Kagome's journey back to consciousness was almost as slow and gradual as her original trip to slumber had been the night before. There were no dreams, no unfamiliar images to haunt her, and the new feelings for Inuyasha had, for some reason, decided to leave her alone. When Kagome woke up in the gold washed light, she felt light and refreshed. When she opened her russet brown eyes she felt like nothing in the world could rip away that feeling of renewed composure from her. It was amazing what a good couple of hours of sleep could do for you these days…

It was also amazing how easily that feeling of warm, content happiness was batted away by a single pair of dark golden eyes in her face.

"Kya!" She let out a little scream as her surprise got the better of her. "G-get away!" She cried, jolting up and instinctively letting her hand fly out from beneath the sheets in a long swiping motion. She would never make contact with the target, though. Inuyasha was too quick for that.

"Hey!" The hanyou who had been staring at her jumped, his figure lurching back as his hand easily caught her wrist. He was glaring down at her before she could totally understand the situation. "What the hell was _that _for?" Inuyasha demanded as he recovered from her sudden scream, the golden eyes that had ripped out of her calm feeling were filled with annoyed surprise.

"For you being in my face, that's what it was for!" Kagome replied, automatically falling into the routine of arguing with him as she tried to yank away her wrist, only succeeding when he deliberately let it go. Her expression was cold and angry, but strangely enough an odd little emptiness tugged at her chest as she cradled her hand, a part of her wondering why he had let go so easily… why hadn't he held on for a little bit?

Quickly Kagome shoved those thoughts away and continued glaring. "What's your _problem_?" She asked, even though he hadn't done anything wrong. Still, Inuyasha took the bait.

"_My_ problem!" He snapped, "_I'm_ not the one trying to slap people for no reason!"

"Yeah well at least I wasn't spying on you while you were sleeping!" Kagome yelled. '_Actually that's not true_.' She thought grudgingly to herself, memories of last night resurfacing in her mind. '_You were watching him last night…_' the torn flesh… the little white teeth of bones. '_Oh God… last night._'

Suddenly she was worried again, remembering how badly he was injured. At the same time Inuyasha happened to remember the reason he had been staring at her in the first place. Both of their expressions instantly softened, the only tenseness now coming from concern.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"You shouldn't be moving." Kagome said at the same time.

Their voices melted in to each other, their tones suddenly soft out of worry and seriousness. It was very strange for Kagome… awkward and yet… familiar somehow. Inuyasha blinked and stared hard at her for a while before his face grew solemn and quietly he turned away to face the dead ashes of the burnt-out fire.

Instinctively Kagome reached out for him. "What?" She asked, before she could stop herself, sitting up and scooting to sit beside him. She had heard herself ask the question that she hadn't planned on asking. He ignored her, his eyes trained on the fire. "Hey… what is it?" She asked, genuine concern seeming to take control of her mind and voice. When she saw the surprised look he gave her she could have slapped both of them for her stupidity. What was she _doing_?

"You're ok." He said plainly, calmly as if it were a statement.

"Yeah… I guess I am." She said, biting her tongue in order to keep herself from thanking him. She was still confused when it came to Inuyasha. And her new feelings for him didn't change the old ones. She still felt like she was ready to explode with mistrust when it came to him… even though she had hated herself for getting him hurt… and even though he _had_ saved her life… she knew it didn't make any sense.

"I'm glad."

She blinked and looked at him, but he only stared blankly into the fire.

"Me too." She said after a while. "I guess I… owe it to you… you know, for stepping in front me like that…" She thought silently about the torn flesh, the blood, the bandages, the bones… she lifted her head and started up again. You didn't have to-"

"I did." He said suddenly, cutting her off, his voice echoing a note of finality.

Kagome tried to swallow down the dry, stickiness in her throat, as the feeling from the dream threatened to return. Trying to distract herself, she looked down at his injury. But it wasn't there. "Hey…" She said, reaching out tentatively to touch her fingers his side. "You're all bandaged up."

"Yeah." Inuyasha grunted as he his cheeks turned a slight pink color. She didn't notice it, but her slight touch was enough to send him off the walls. "Sango patched me up this morning." He said.

Kagome felt a strange little jab… but decided to ignore it. She had had enough examining of feelings last night. Still… _she_ had planned to be the one bandaging him the next day. But it as probably better that Sango had done it anyway. "Can she do it right?" Kagome asked, studying the job carefully, looking for mistakes, though she didn't know what mistakes looked like… or at least, she _thought_ she didn't.

"She can do it better than anyone else 'round here." Inuyasha replied casually. "'Cept maybe Miroku…" He drifted for a bit and his eyebrows furrowed together in thought. Slowly he turned to look at her. "Hey…" He said after a while, his voice deep and slow as he stared steadily.

She could feel her insides growing hot.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked.

"Doing what?" Kagome said, thank god her voice made her sound as ifshe were calm.

"You're having a conversation with me." Was the incredulous reply. "An _actual _conversation… where's the screaming? The yelling? Where's the _bitching_?" He asked, slightly stunned and a little thrown off.

At first Kagome was caught by surprise. First of all by the fact that he actually had the nerve to ask the question, and secondly because she realized she actually _was_ having an actual conversation with him. Without the screaming and yelling and… bitching. '_Whoa_…' she blinked for a moment and stared before finally deciding to retaliate in her usual manner. "And is there something _wrong_ with having a decent conversation?" She said, her voice suddenly turning cold.

She could practically see the sudden fear surface in Inuyasha. Good…. She could handle this kind of situation. She knew this kind of situation. "Don't I _deserve_ to have at least some kind of interaction after all this conflict I've been having to go through these past ten – no _eleven_ days!" She demanded.

Inuyasha backed away quickly, momentarily cringing to put a hand to his bandages. "I never said that-"

"I mean its not as if you've forbidden me to do that _too_, is it!"

"N-no, I, _hey_-"

"I mean God knows, I need to talk to _someone _around here!"

"I know that-"

"Even _if_ the only person open to conversation around here is the guy who _kidnapped_ me!"

"_Oh for_-!" Inuyasha cried, his voice suddenly desperate and frustrated. "For the last fucking time! I _didn't-_"

"Good morning, Inuyasha, Lady Kagome."

The arguing couple on the floor of Kaede's hut stopped what they were doing and turned to see a man with dark black hair and long purple robes standing in the doorway.

"'Morning Perv." Inuyasha said casually. Miroku rolled his eyes and sighed as he entered the room.

Kagome watched the holy man as he passed her, thinking about the way he had been fighting yesterday, like Inuyasha had been, while she hid behind a rock. She saw, when she looked closer at him that his upper arm was covered in a thick layer of gauze. She felt a little guilty. She hadn't talked to him at all since he had woken up from that poison thing and never once made any attempts to get to know him… or thank him. She had actually been a little nervous about it, because he seemed to be a bit smarter and more tactful than the others somehow. She was afraid he might trick her into saying something that she didn't want to say. Also… she couldn't help but feel that whenever he looked at her he was imagining things that she did _not_ want him to be imagining… But that was probably just her imagination.

She nodded to him respectfully, her eyes downcast. "Houshi." She said softly in a way of acknowledgement, half hoping that he wouldn't hear her. But he did.

Miroku jerked to a sudden stop, and then he was staring down at her, his murky violet eyes penetrating. She instantly wished she hadn't said anything at all. "Lady Kagome…" Slowly, he dropped down beside her, his face staring intently into hers.

"Hey… _watch it, _Miroku." Inuyasha growled form the corner of the room. As usual he was ignored.

Kagome felt herself instinctively back away from the man. But it was to no avail as he only kept leaning toward further… apparently he didn't believe in personal space either. What _was_ it with those two? "Kagome…" The monk said slowly, his face looking like he was looking for something. "Have you…regained a memory? Something's changed about your aura…"

Across the room Inuyasha tensed. She could feel the pressure of his golden eyes on her.

Her breath caught in her throat. So she _had _been right. The monk _was_ a bit more perceptive than the other two. Shoot. "Uh…. no." She lied. "I haven't." She could only hope he didn't read minds.

At that Miroku frowned and backed away again, giving her back her personal air space, which she was deeply grateful for. Across the room a bit of hard, stiffness remained in Inuyasha's posture but slowly he seemed to relax… although she couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable still.

"So… what's up?" Inuyasha asked, turning to Miroku.

The monk sighed and sat down. "Sango's sleeping." He said. "She's worn out from last night."

Inuyasha scowled. "_That's _what you came in to tell me?"

Kagome gave a wry smile. Inuyasha would never change.

Miroku gave Inuyasha a look. "Considering as how she was the one who bandaged you up this morning I'd be a bit more respectful."

Inuyasha's face turned sour and he was silent for a while. "Yeah… whatever." He said, though she thought she saw some small traces of guilt.

"We've agreed that we need to start a search for Kaede and Shippo." Miroku said, his tone very businessman like.

Inuyasha nodded solemnly. "When?"

"That's what I came to ask you." Miroku replied, nodding down to Inuyasha's injury. "When can we count on you to be stable enough to travel?"

Inuyasha made a face. "Tomorrow."

Kagome's jaw dropped.

"What? You thought this little scratch would slow me down?" Inuyasha asked.

Miroku rolled his eyes.

"Wait a minute…" Kagome said weakly from the corner, her entire body numb. Was he thinking about _moving_ with that injury? Was he _crazy_?

"Inuyasha… be realistic now."

"I _am_ being realismic!"

"Realistic."

"Whatever!"

"Hey…" Kagome said again, but she was ignored.

"Three days."

"I'll be up in one."

"You really are too stubborn."

"_Hey_."

"I'm not being stubborn, don't forget I'm still half _demon_!"

"And you're also half human."

"Shut up!"

"HEY!"

Both men blinked and turned to look at Kagome, who had stood now, obviously she was fuming. Miroku, being the wiser of the two men, backed away immediately and Inuyasha, being the less wise of the two, moved forward. "What?"

"Are you seriously trying to tell me that you plan on _moving_ with that injury!" Kagome demanded.

"You got a problem with that?" He asked tartly, his eyes daring her.

"It's just _stupid!_ _That's _the problem!" Kagome snapped, stepping closer.

"Agreed," Miroku said, trying to intervene before it was too late, "you see Inuyasha-"

"What makes you'll even be able to _stand_ tomorrow!" Kagome demanded.

Miroku sighed… it looked like it was too late anyway.

"Feh – don't waste your breath on stuff like that. I'm stronger than you think I am." Inuyasha answered cockily.

"You were cut to the _bone_!" Kagome cried, for some reason tears were threatening to start burning in her eyes. But she absolutely refused to let them. What would Inuyasha think of her then?

"I'm telling you it's nothing!" Inuyasha snapped.

"It's _not nothing_!" Kagome yelled. "You _can't_ start traveling tomorrow you're too hurt!"

At that Miroku raised his eyebrows… it sounded like the old Kagome. He wondered if either of them even noticed it.

"Oh yeah?" Inuyasha leaned forwards. "And whose going to protect you tomorrow if I'm down and locked up in this damned hut all day long!" He demanded. "For the last time I'll – be – _fine_!"

Kagome felt something jab into her heart, her head immediately started spinning in darkness.

'_Just shut up and let me protect you!_'

"Inuyasha…" She felt dizzy, just like the last time his voice invaded her mind. Quickly she looked up, her panicked russet eyes meeting with his golden ones. He blinked for a moment before suddenly understanding, recognizing the expression as the same one she had worn in the woods. Within seconds he was standing up.

"Ah!" He cringed in pain, his hand automatically going to the bandages around his middle.

Kagome tried to hold herself up, but felt herself sway. For a second her vision went black, and then she was falling into Inuyasha's arms. He cried out when their bodies collided, hers delicate frame jarring painfully with his. Unable to support her, he lowered them to the ground and squatted there, panting while Miroku stood hastily and moved to help them.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome said heavily when Miroku laid her on the ground beside the hanyou, who was propping himself up with his hands while he sat. She breathed hard as she fought to recover from her almost-black-out-experience.

"Yeah?" he asked, his breath just as ragged and strained as he looked down into her eyes.

"I told you so."

Inuyasha scowled. "Wench."

She smiled a little, and she saw a flash of recognition pass through his golden eyes… followed by a look of stunned shock.

'_Shoot… he remembers me last night._' She thought quietly to herself. She didn't know how she knew… she just did. "Inuyasha." She said suddenly, feeling her feeble strength start to return. "Tell me about Kagome."

* * *

**A/N**: Don't kill me. Please. School starts tomorrow so I may not have that much time anymore. But I'll try. /. I decided to break this chapter into two parts. This I part one. Yey! And no this chapter has not been re-read. Its three in the morning and I'm exhausted so if you don't enjoy don't tell me. I might cry. Ciao! 


	25. Tell Me About Her, Part Two

**Tell Me About Her… Part II**

**A/N**: My sincerest apologies. I know took waay too long and there are no excuses. But this new school is a very good school and so that means that it's a very HARD one. (sobbing) Forgotten Angel, I'm so sorry, and I'm flattered that you would even _think_ about coming back to check on this story, let alone give me another review (that made me happy) when I've taken so long to update. Sincerest apologies readers. And yes, I really, _really_ mean it.

**Disclaimer**: While I was gone I was granted ownership to Inuyasha…. (Lawyers stare). What? (lawyers pull out threatening law suits) oh fine… he's still not mine.

Previously in MMHA:

_"Inuyasha." She said suddenly, feeling her feeble strength start to return. "Tell me about Kagome." _

OoOoOoO

Everybody froze.

Inuyasha stared so hard and long at Kagome that for a moment she thought that he was physically trying to bore a hole into her skull. Finally he blinked, but his expression was still stunned. "What?"

Kagome felt her heart jerk. The sound of her voice made her feel as if she had done something wrong. "I-" her throat cut her off, not allowing her to form any words. But that didn't really matter; she didn't know what she would have said anyway. Inuyasha continued to stare heard at her, and then he started trying to stand up.

"Inuyasha-" Miroku started forwards, either to try to stop, or help him, but he had hardly moved an inch when Inuyasha sent him a death glare that clearly said, 'touch me and die.' Miroku blinked. Kagome was afraid.

Slowly, she sat up, finally able to choke out his name when the hanyou was half way to the door. He stopped. When he heard her voice, his eyes turned as hard and cold as amber ice. "No." He said darkly, his tone final. "This is stupid."

His blunt words left a long, hurting silence in their wake. It filled the room like a gushing river, threatening to drown them all… torrents of silence as cutting as the flow from a broken dam. When Inuyasha finally spoke again, his voice had been softened with a trace of pain. "I can't do this." He said very quietly.

And then he walked out the door, the white light hitting his body as Kagome watched him leave, his silver hair illuminated in the sun, his back to her. He looked strangely alone as the straw-thatched flap started to fall closed behind him. She could feel the tears pricking and burning into the back of her eyes as she watched him leave. A slant of white light streamed under the shadow of his arm and fell across her face, sharpening her tear-swollen eyes and making the collecting tears shine.

She wondered, for a moment, if he would turn around and look at her as he left. Or say her name so she could feel the way it made her feel… but he didn't. He didn't even so much as utter her name. He was completely silent… and surrounded by white light... a lonesome solitude… just like her. The flap fell shut behind him. And just like that, Miroku and Kagome were suddenly alone.

Slowly the girl turned to face the standing man, and asked with only her tear-filled eyes, what she had done wrong.

Miroku sighed heavily before shaking his head and sitting back down. "What," he asked softly, "do you want to know?"

OoOoOoOoO

Inuyasha hobbled through the village roads with his face turned down, curtains of long silver hair and shadows hanging over his eyes. He was only looking at the road. But he wasn't really seeing it. He wasn't seeing anything. Blindly, unconsciously, his muscles were guiding him to the place where he always went when things like this happened… bad things.

His haori had been left behind in Kaede's hut, and beneath his bandages his wound burned. But he didn't really feel it.

He knew that he shouldn't have left Kagome alone like that, and with Miroku of all people. He knew he shouldn't have said those things to her, or let her cry like that. He knew he shouldn't have been so brazen and harsh… shouldn't have been so rough, shouldn't have become so cold… but to do what she was asking of him? To talk to Kagome about Kagome? _His_ Kagome? The girl who had told him once that she loved him? Inuyasha's body tensed as he gripped at the Tetsuigia, his makeshift crutch, with a skull-shattering grip.

He couldn't do that. It was too real. The fact that it wasn't the same… that even though she was still alive he had still lost something in her – the part that loved him. That it was _his_ fault. That he was still all alone even though she was right there in front of him… That she wouldn't even come near him anymore wouldn't come near the real him who she used to know so well. He couldn't talk about something like that. It hurt…

He had lived through losing everything that meant to him a year ago… but he couldn't relive it again. He couldn't tell her, couldn't talk about how he had let her go. How she had died. Her, with her beautiful smile… her beautiful eyes… the way she held his hand when they had been alone together… the way she _moved _… everything that had ever mattered to him… gone.

When the sheath started to give beneath his grip, Inuyasha came back to himself… but the pain was still drifting near his heart, ready for the new wave… for the next attack. He couldn't. It had hurt too much to lose her. It had driven him to the brink of insanity… to spend every day without her… knowing that she wasn't coming back. That she had been his everything, and she was gone. He couldn't even try to accept the fact that she had died once… not yet. Maybe not ever.

OoOoOoO

"I just don't know… what I did wrong." Kagome said quietly, her hands in her lap. She felt awful. But she didn't know why. And that upset her even more. "I-" her voice hitched. "I didn't mean anything by it…" the guilt was getting heavier, it was almost unbearable. "I didn't even mean to say it." She blurted, the first tear streaking down her cheek, barely skimming her skin before it fell to the floor. It was a light tear. "It just-" she hiccupped, "came out."

The silence was unbearable, and for a moment she thought that Miroku was angry her. And then finally he said, "I understand."

She could have hugged him. She could have kissed him. But she did neither. She was so grateful. Even though she knew that he didn't _really_ understand. He couldn't have understood, or else he'd be crying with her. "I'm so… lost sometimes." She said. "When I'm with him its like I screw everything up… everything insides all… jumbled. _God_, what's wrong with me?" Kagome asked, not looking up for an answer. "_Why_ am I _crying _like – hiccup – t-this? I-I'm not… I d-don't… I don't _care_ what he thinks about me… I _can't_… I don't… I don't feel anything. I _don_'t!" She practically cried, as if Miroku had accused her of lying… she _was_ lying. And she knew that Miroku knew. She could tell from the way he was watching her… she could feel it. And that only made her cry even harder.

Everything about her gave Kagome away. It wasn't that hard to tell. Her expression, her tears, the way she sat, the way she stared, her reaction to his words, the way her russet eyes were water-filled and red… and torn. They were so impossibly torn. Miroku frowned. Maybe Kagome wouldn't ever be able to be pieced back together again… even by Inuyasha. Maybe she wouldn't ever be the same. Maybe the girl they had known would never come back again. It was starting to look like it… unless she could somehow regain her memories. But even then… all Miroku could hope for, was that he could help her now.

"Inuyasha didn't mean to hurt you." He said, his voice sudden and firm but still strangely soft. "That would be the last thing he ever wanted to do."

Kagome continued to cry. "C-could have f-fooled me…" She said softly, her shoulders still shaking a bit as glittery tears slapped at the wooden floor. "The j-jerk."

Miroku smiled. Maybe he had been wrong. Maybe she was the same.

"I think I know where he is." Miroku said, standing up. "Allow me to retrieve him… I think we _all_ need to talk."

Kagome didn't respond. She just sat still with tears streaming down her face, though now her form had ceased to shake. "I don't ever want to see him again." She said softly. "I hate him."

"_That_, Lady Sayuri," Miroku said, turning as he looked at her through the door, "is what is commonly known as 'a lie'."

Kagome's face remained neutral as she stared at him. "It's not a lie." She said.

The man only smiled. "I will see you very soon."

"I might run away."

"Inuyasha will find you."

"He won't leave me alone."

Miroku stared hard at her, feeling as if there was a double meaning behind her words. Another meaning of something along the lines of, _"he confuses me. I want to hate him but he's always getting in the way… I can't always believe myself when I'm around him… he has this power over me… I'm always thinking about him… no matter how hard I try not to… he won't leave me alone."_

And for a moment, Miroku seriously considered telling her, "He loves you." And he almost did. But then… that wasn't really any of his business. Not yet anyway. So instead he turned to leave.

"You called me Sayuri." She said softly as he opened the flap to the outside world beyond the door.

He stopped and looked over his shoulder, the light hitting his figure and making him look strangely powerful and holy. "I did."

"Why?"

"To try and make you comfortable, Lady Sayuri…that's all we want for now."

Miroku gave her one last smile and then walked out, the flap shutting behind him.

"Thank you." She whispered, listening to the silence that replied. And once she was sure that he was gone, Kagome started to cry again. Because now the name Sayuri didn't sound quite so right anymore… it didn't settle inside her like a real name did… like a real name _should_… the name that Naraku had given her no longer seemed like it belonged… did it?

Oh God, what was _wrong_ with her? She didn't even know her own _name_. Kagome… that didn't completely fit either, just like Sayuri. She couldn't understand either of them. She was so confused… she was starting to think of the two girls as two separate people. _Real _people… people who were tearing her apart. Just like Naraku and Inuyasha. And even if she were to finally make up her mind… decide which of the two she wanted to be… who she wanted to go with, how could she have ever lived up to either of them?

OoOoOoOoO

"You're a coward."

"… Excuse me?" Inuyasha glowered down through the leaves of his favorite tree, staring hard at Miroku, who refused to cast his glance away. The latter was used to that ice cold, amber stare by now. He had seen it a lot more since Kagome had gone. And Inuyasha had become bitter.

"I said, 'you're a coward.'." The monk repeated evenly, though there a slight tone of anger hidden inside his voice. It was that calm yet angry tone again, that one that Inuyasha couldn't stand, because no matter how many times he tried it, he could never pull it off. "Why couldn't you tell her." Miroku asked, though it wasn't a question. It was more of a demand.

Inuyasha looked up at the branches wreathed above his head. They annoyed him. "Feh."

"You won't ignore me." Miroku said calmly, his staff in his hand, gleaming in the sun. When the wind blew by, the dappled light danced over his face, his dark purple robes fluttering at his ankles. "And you won't ignore _her_ either."

In his tree, Inuyasha stiffened. "Fuck off." His voice was angry.

Miroku's face hardened. "Gladly, but only after you answer my question."

Inuyasha scowled.

"You don't have a choice."

There was a long, screaming silence, in which Inuyasha glared at Miroku, and Miroku glared back at him. Both young men were unyielding, unwavering, testing each other's will, until finally the guilt inside Inuyasha got to him: he was the first to look away.

"What is it?" He asked moodily, his arms folded across his chest as he slouched against the trunk. "The faster you say it the faster you go away." He needed to justify the reason that he was listening. He didn't want to admit that he felt bad….

"You already know."

The hanyou did not reply.

"Inuyasha."

"_What_?" The silver-haired boy snapped, now blatantly refusing to make eye contact with the man he had just been having a staring contest with a few moments ago.

"Why couldn't you tell her?"

The question rang through the air, steadily cutting at Inuyasha's defense, until finally he couldn't keep himself from lashing out anymore. "It's none of your _damn_ business."

"Yes… It is. _I_ was the one who had to take your place."

"I said 'go away.'."

"No, you said 'it was none of my damn business.'."

The hanyou scowled. "Just. Leave." He gritted out through his fangs, one of the ivory tips threatening to pierce his lip.

"No. I'm here on her behalf."

That, was the wrong thing to say. He could tell by the look on Inuyasha's face.

"Why can't you-"

"Because I can't, alright!" Inuyasha cut him off angrily, now sitting straight up and staring at Miroku. "I just can't! _Deal_ with it! I _can't_ move on!"

"That much," Miroku replied after a moment, "has become clear."

"_What_?"

"Your thirst for vengeance, your drive to change the things that you can't, the way you cling to memories, to feelings, your stubbornness, your obstinacy… Inuyasha I _know_ what kind of person you are."

Throughout the mini-speech, Inuyasha had remained silent.

"And I know that you can't go on like this. You're hurting yourself."

Inuyasha turned his face away. "What the hell do you care?" he asked, trying to make it seem like a throwaway question. He failed miserably.

"You're my friend."

Inuyasha's expression remained blank and hard, his eyes traced focused hard on the skyline. He would not look down. For a moment he considered saying 'I don't need any friends.' But then Miroku would have leave… it was the kind of thing that had always made Kagome cry. And then he would have felt even worse.

"I've known you for years now, and I'd like to say that I'm your friend as well… It's as your friend that I tell you that you have to stop. You _have _to move on."

From the tree there was only silence.

"You _have_ to move on." Miroku said again, his voice firm, his mouth only a thin line. "Kagome never died."

In the tree, Inuyasha inhaled so hard that he practically choked, his form lurching up from the branch as he dug his fingers into the bark. All those painful memories, those festering emotions, everything that he had been battling down for the past year was surging back to the surface… _why_ was Miroku doing this to him? _Why_ did they have to talk?

"Stop torturing yourself." The man below him said. "You have to stop."

'_Shut up._' Inuyasha thought to himself, though his form remained perfectly still.

"You've been tearing yourself apart for an entire year."

'_Shut up_.'

"And now you're hurting _her_ too."

Within an instant Inuyasha had dropped to the ground. His golden eyes flashing, his glare crushing hard as he got into Miroku's face. The two were only inches away. "Shut - up." Inuyasha said slowly, his tone cold as his golden eyes.

"I won't. As usual you need this."

"Not – from – you."

"No one else is going to tell you."

"That's not my problem." The hanyou said before turning away, his back now facing the man behind him.

"So you don't care then," Miroku called after Inuyasha's retreating form. "That you're hurting Kagome in the worst possible way."

Inuyasha froze.

"Why can't you even tell her that you love her?"

"I did." Inuyasha said, his voice quiet but hard with anger. "It didn't make any difference."

There was a silence. But Miroku was the one to break it. "You claim to be so strong." Miroku said, disdainfully, watching as Inuyasha's fists balled at his sides, seeing the little drops of crimson dripping from his palms. "And yet look at how pathetically weak you are. You're so preoccupied with your own emotions that you can't even extend a little bit of kindness or pity towards _her_."

The crimson drops grew faster and thicker as they pattered onto the grass.

"You can't even bring yourself to tell her about her past."

He could tell how close Inuyasha was to the edge.

"I'm starting to believe that you don't even care about her at all." Miroku was lying. "You don't really lov-"

The hand that closed around his throat was so tight and fast that he hadn't even seen it coming. He coughed hard as his body was hurled into a tree, his head cracking dizzyingly against the trunk, the air was punched out of his lungs. His gasp was strangled beneath Inuyasha's fingers, slick with the blood from his claws. Inuyasha held Miroku's feet off the ground by an inch.

"Don't you _dare_." Inuyasha said softly, a growl resonating from inside his chest, his eyes narrowed in hatred and disgust. "Don't you _dare_ say that I don't care about her!" He hissed. "What would _you _do if you lost Sango?" Inuyasha asked, his grip tightening on his friend's neck as he pushed in harder into the tree. "What would _you _do if the person you cared about the most in the entire world was _ripped_ away from you in the span of a second?"

His voice was a threat. His eyes were a threat. All his anger and frustration and rage… Miroku could feel it, squeezing at his throat, getting tighter and tighter, cutting off his air. The grain of the bark dug into his back like knives, threatening to pierce his skin.

"Kagome wasn't the only one," Inuyasha said, his voice thick with anger, and his eyes dark and stormy, "who died that day. Do you have _any idea_ what the hell dying _feels _like?" With every word he pressed Miroku harder into the tree. "Do you even have an _inkling_," he asked, his voice dark and low, "to how the_ hell_ that _feels_?"

"Inuyasha." Miroku finally, managed as his vision began to thicken and fuzz, his strangled voice quiet but still shockingly even. "You're choking me."

Inuyasha seemed to realize what he was doing, and immediately he let the Miroku drop, as if he had been holding onto coals. Miroku staggered, placing his hand on the tree to balance himself and recover, and all the while Inuyasha stared, waiting.

"I think…" Miroku managed, his vision still spinning from lack of oxygen, his throat aching whenever he took a breath, "that you need to go and talk to her."

Inuyasha didn't respond, his amber eyes were troubled and lost.

"I think… we _all_ need to talk."

"… Fine."

The two stayed still and silent for a moment, feeling awkward and feeling unsure. Finally they turned around to head back to the village. But the sound of rustling leaves made them stop. Almost immediately Inuyasha caught the faint traces of a familiar scent. He turned around and stared at a certain bush, Miroku saw nothing special about it. Within a few seconds Kagome had crawled out, her body dripping wet and dirt-streaked.

The two men watched, their expressions blank as the girl stood, her face beautiful and pale, but exhausted. She straightened her dress and ran her fingers through her dripping raven hair before her quietly torn, and saddened eyes met Inuyasha's. It was like taking a shot to the chest.

"What's going on?" She finally asked, her voice so small and quiet that Inuyasha could barely hear. "Please…" she said again, a tear drop falling from her left eye. "Just tell me."

**A/N**: Crap crap crap crap crap! Do you see what happens when you start school? Everything turns to crap! Next time: "tell me about her pt. III" – what you've been waiting for… maybe. ;)


	26. Lie to Me

Lie to Me

* * *

**A/N**: Updated at last. Don't worry if this chapter doesn't make sense until the end. Combined with the next chapter it is all rather long, I mean in **Univers** font size 12 double spaced on Microsoft word it takes up like, 19 pages. But that is including the paragraph sized author notes. /.

**Forgotten Angel**, I want you to know that I wrote these two chapters only because I read your reviews. So I really hope that you like them because you're the reason that they are here. (By the way I am _so_ embarrassed that you read my Aladdin story (blush!) I've been meaning to take that down for _ages _and I'm mortified that I ever wrote it (its so sloppy! T.T)! So thanks so much for all your reviews, and the same goes for all of you who keep reading my stuff even though I'm like, not updating.

**Disclaimer**: Any recognizable material does not belong to me

Enjoy - _nanirain_.

* * *

_Lie to me…_

She knew that he was mad. And for once Kagome didn't blame him, or rather couldn't blame him… not after what she had done. After she had pretended to betray him, throw herself into the jaws of a monster and join the other side. True, it had been the only way to trick the demon into believing that she was dead and no longer a threat. And true, it had been the _only_ way to save Inuyasha. And besides, she had known what she was doing. She had it all planned out. But she had kept it a secret from him because it had to be convincing. She _had_ to make him believethat she had left him or else Inuyasha would have ended up dead. And that was the last thing she ever wanted.

"I wonder how long… he'll be angry at me." She said distractedly, struggling through a patch of thorns that had latched stubbornly to her sock. The sun had drifted out of the sky an hour ago, and the instant they had made camp and settled down for the night Inuyasha had disappeared into the trees, telling them all not to follow him. Not to even think about it. Or else.

He didn't want her to come after him – didn't need her company. But she had to apologize, for herself if not for anyone else. She needed to talk to him and heave all the heavy guilt off her chest so she could breathe again.

A small frown line appeared on Kagome's face as she wandered distractedly after him. To say she was nervous was a huge understatement, but at least she was still trying to work things out. Although… she'd broken her promise to him… she knew. She'd made him think that she wasn't going to be there for him anymore. For a fraction of a second she had tried, in the worst possible way she ever could, to hurt him.

And she didn't know if they would ever be able to recover from that. She could only hope…

A few hours of tireless wandering brought her to the other end of the woods. She found Inuyasha standing at the top of a cliff, looking over a deep ravine, rocky walls caked with shadows. The silver moonlight had a way of cascading down on him and making him glow… But he looked so alone.

"Inuyasha." She couldn't believe she just called out to him. She didn't fail to notice the way his fists clenched at the sound of her voice. It made her feel as if her own heart were trapped between his white-knuckled fingers, squeezing it hard, making it ache. "I came to say I'm sorry." She said evenly, feeling insecure and sad with a voice that sounded far too calm and insensitive.

"Save it." Inuyasha said coldly, without turning around to face her. "I don't care about your stupid apology." He was silent for a moment more before he started up again, his voice still icy. "Let's get something straight: I don't ever want to hear you speak to me again, Kagome. _Ever_." He lied, his voice cutting and mean because he wanted to hide his pain. "_Got that_?"

Kagome bit her lip against the aching in her body that was spreading from her chest. She couldn't blame him for being so upset. She had known that he would react this way when everything was over. But still... this was too real.

"Listen," she said, putting her fingertips to her collarbone as if to protect herself from being hurt. "I know what I did was wrong… But I only did it because I care about you, Inuyasha." She started coming closer to him, until she was close enough to put her hand up onto his shoulder, the other still protecting her heart.

As soon as her hand skimmed the fabric of his shirt, Inuyasha jerked and moved away from her… almost violently. Kagome let her hand fall off his shoulder and back to her side, unable to keep from feeling surprised and hurt. It was the fist time he had ever reacted that way.

"What the hell did you think you were solving by doing something like that, anyway?" He asked her. She could practically hear him grinding his teeth together in anger. "I never took you for a _stupid_ bitch."

"I was trying to help you." She said, defending herself.

"Yeah, well I didn't _need_ your fucking help!" Inuyasha yelled. "We would have found another way, Kagome! _Why_ the hell would you ever _do _something like that! Why wouldn't you come to us?" She frowned and kept herself from drawing away. He was speaking to her as if she were his enemy. It made her press her arm harder into her chest. But she could still feel the pain.

"I'm… sorry." She managed, her voice quiet and throaty from the oncoming tears. "But, Inuyasha, I… I was _so_ afraid for you." She breathed, her words coming out faster now. "What was I supposed to do? … You were going to get yourself _killed_."

"Feh." He spat in his nasty tone, shamelessly ripping her feelings apart. "As if."

She smiled sadly spite of herself at the familiar show of his cocky attitude and then felt it melt away. Her expression changed to a worried, saddened face. Taking a careful step closer to him, she dropped her hand from her collar bone and wrapped both her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek firmly against his back. To her he felt so cold. But at least he didn't try to make her let go. Thank God he hadn't tried…

"Please don't push me away, Inuyasha." She begged quietly. "I already said that I'm sorry."

"You think that's going to make a difference this time?" He said quietly, angrily, the muscles in his body turning to rocks as he clenched his fists. "You think that just a stupid _apology_ is going to be enough for this?" The growl tucked inside his throat made his voice sound gravely.

"I know." She said, inhaling softly.

"You betrayed me."

Kagome's grip tightened around his waist as the tears started to prick in her eyes. "I'm sorry." She said, her voice hoarse. "I didn't want to… and it _killed _me inside. But I had to try and save you."

He didn't say anything.

Just as her grip was starting to loosen, he turned around and their eyes met. She had a moment to feel the jolt of electricity between them that he sent through her before he crushed her body into his chest with his strong arms. His exhale was forced, as if he were trying to breath out the pain, and she could feel his cheek resting heavily on top of her head.

"_Don't do it again_." He said roughly, his voice thick and heavy with raw emotions. "_Ever_."

"Inuyasha." She said, smiling a little. So he had forgiven after all.

"Say it, Kagome." He said, moving his arms down from her shoulders to her waist so she could pull her head away and look at him in the eye. "Say that you promise."

She smiled sadly and took his face into her hands. She blinked when she felt the sticky dampness on his cheeks soak into her skin. She frowned thoughtfully, her eyes searching his face when she realized that they were tear tracks from before he had come. She felt her own tears threaten to slip from her eyes.

"I promise." She said, looking at him with as much assurance as she could manage to express. "I swear."

He leaned down to look at her, as if to see if she really meant it and she could taste his breath. She felt his lips barely touch together with her own for a fraction of a second before he pulled away and looked at her again. Their second kiss. And even though it had barely been one at all she was breathless.

She smiled as best she could because she expected a blush to be on his cheeks. Like the one that came whenever she mentioned their first. But it wasn't there. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw him looking at her again with those eyes. Golden and bittersweet and filled to the brim with loneliness and pain. The feelings that she knew she had caused him to feel. She closed her eyes and looked away, burying her face in his chest as he held her fiercely to him, two figures crushed together in the moonlight till they almost looked like one.

"Inuyasha-" She breathed haltingly. And he kissed her again, full and hard and on the mouth, leaving her floating somewhere between reality and dreams, knowing only the ache of being with him and filling up the tears inside his heart with pieces of her own. When she came back to the real world she was resting against his chest, half asleep while he held her in his arms.

"I love you, Inuyasha." She said softly, so softly that she wasn't sure that even he could hear.

His grip tightened around her figure in what could have been a response, making her close her eyes, feeling secure. For now, that was all she needed – the feeling of his arms. It might be all she would ever need. Because she loved him so mu -

"Whoa!" Kagome sat bolt upright in her bed. Her body and mind racing while her heart pounded painfully somewhere up inside her throat. "Oh my God…" She managed, putting her hands to her head to make the world stop spinning, to make her heart stop pounding. "What was that…?" Slowly she drifted back down to the bed, though by now she was wide awake. "Oh... man."

'_This is great…_' The miko thought to herself in frustration a few minutes later, trying to bury her face and body deeper into the pillows, like suffocating herself was going to help. _'What was _that' She asked herself, her heart aching with the feelings left over. 'Why _is this happening? Urgh! If only I could believe that this wasn't real, then I could go back to sleep and –… wait,' _she went very, very still, sealed tightly in the envelope of the dark. '… _Can't I just pretend_?'

The more she thought about it with herself the easier it sounded. Of course she could pretend. After all, it had only been a dream. And dreams didn't really mean anything, if you thought about it: they were just wild fragments of thought that your mind left behind and sorted through at the end of the day. It was like the garbage that was left over from rational thought. Real thought. And it had been a silly dream too, way to cliché and sappy to be taken seriously. Much like the feelings she had felt in her sleep. They weren't deep or meaningful, they were just surface feelings that she could ignore and throw away as she pleased. Silly schoolgirl crushes and fantasies that came and went and never amounted to anything. In fact, she was embarrassed that she had even dreamed to ever dream up that silly scene. Two broken lovers kissing in the moonlight… _please_. I mean, can you say 'overrated'? Seriously!

The more Kagome thought about it the more she realized that it the dream didn't really mean a thing. And neither did Inuyasha.

She nodded and rolled over, feeling happy, smiling even in the dark as she went to go back to sleep. It was just a meaningless dream filled with meaningless feelings and meaningless people. Nothing more. She lay there for a moment, just letting the relief wash over her, cleanse her, and strip away the worry in her body. She hadn't felt relief in a very long time.

And then, finally, when the relief was done, she turned over with a heavy sigh and buried her face into the pillows to cry out the hot, throbbing tears that the dream had left behind, allowing them soak into the silk. Because there's a limit as to how much you can lie to yourself. A limit as to how far you can allow your very own mind to be dishonest to your very own heart. And not only was she, Kagome Higurashi or Sayuri Asakura, an absolutely terrible liar, but she knew that she had passed that limit a long time ago.

And then… from the darkness came a whisper. Long and slow and raspy and… inhuman. "_Why_ do you _cry_?"

She was not alone.

* * *

**A/N**: So concludes the cheesy love scene! For more intense author notes, read the end A/N in the next chapter as it also talks about this one. Thanks!

xox _nanirain_


	27. Cry for Me

Cry for Me

* * *

**A/N**: My entire starter A/N is in the beginning of last chapter. For bigger A/N on both this chapter and the last please read the bottom of the page. The only thing I have to say here is 'yeah… this chapter's title is rather random…' Thank you.

**Disclaimer**: Any recognizable material does not belong to me… bummer.

**Previously**: Too long. Go read the last chapter. Please. _She was not alone_.

* * *

_Cry for Me… Just for Me_

Slowly, Kagome lifted her head from the pillow, fear making her body impossibly still. "What?" She asked quietly not sure she had even heard the voice.

She gasped as something cold and wet slithered over her hand, jerking her fingers away and hearing the thump of whatever had been there falling onto the wood. She sat up slowly, her eyes wide and searching in the dark. But she couldn't see anything. She screamed when the thing slithered around her neck and started to squeeze. Grabbing frantically at it she dashed it to the ground, scrambling backwards until she hit the wall, her sheets kicked off the mat.

"Little girls are so much prettier when they cry…" The voice rasped as Kagome tried to keep her heart from bursting. "So much… _tastier_."

"Where are you?" She asked, trying to sound brave and failing at it miserably.

"Somewhere close to your heart…" the thing whispered and she could hear it inhaling deeply. "Ahhhh. That's _good_."

Kagome scrambled away again, shrieking at the voice whose breath she had been able to feel in her ear. It was close. Moving away from it, she ran into something else that was warm and soft and crumpled beneath her. She fell to the floor, lying on top of a body. It was still warm… '_Oh no._' Those wild green eyes, open and staring… '_Get away from me_…' she couldn't speak… his crazy smile was coming back, the insane cracked grin and pale, reaching hands. And she couldn't move away.

"You can't scream… I've made sure that she won't wake for a very… long… while." The thing said. "A girl _slayer_ could not defeat me…"

'_Tetsuya…_' Kagome closed her eyes and took a gasping breath. "Who _are _you!" She shrieked.

"I am the one who _waited _for you…"

She stiffened as something started slithering up her leg… cold as ice, leaving her skin numb and heavy. She couldn't feel her entire lower leg. And she couldn't move. "What are you doing to me?" She whispered.

"Ka-go-maaay…" The thing said, and she could hear the pleasure in its voice. "I waited hours for the two men to leave you, such foolish young men to leave behind the girl…" it was almost to her thigh, and now she couldn't breathe. "And leave another to protect her." He laughed coldly as she felt the heavy weight moving over her skirt and slithering up beneath her shirt. "The slayer could hardly keep her eyes open for an _hour_, leaving you here to be _tasted_."

"It's Sango…" Kagome realized suddenly, feeling the steady rise and fall of the body beneath hers on the floor. It was Sango… and she was still breathing… she was alive. So why hadn't she woken up yet? "Wuh- what did you do to… _ugh_!" She cried out in pain when the thing bit her at the bottom of her ribcage, she could feel it sucking the blood from her body like a leech. "St-stop it!" She cried, still unable to move, her entire lower body numb and her arms paralyzed.

"_Ah… so good to taste you_." It said, licking a thin, stinging tongue over the wound. "You are worth the _wait_." It said, the pleasure in its voice disgusting to her as she tried to move but failed. It was as if she were frozen in ice… and all she wanted to do was scream.

"No wonder it fell in _love _with you." The thing hissed, slithering father up her body leaving a searing pain in her stomach where he had bit her before. "The filthy hanyou…" Kagome's eyes widened as it continued to explain. "You are too _pure_ for him…"

"Get - away - from - me." Kagome said, the words barely formed as her whispers puffed them off her lips. And the ice snake slithered up to her heart. Somehow she knew that if she let it bite her there, she was going to die…

"_Tasty_." It said in its deep, raspy voice and she could feel the head leave her chest to plunge into her heart. "_I will rip you!_"

'_No…_' She thought to herself, closing her eyes, "Don't _touch_ me!" Without warning, a bright purple light flashed from the inside of Kagome's body, illuminating the whole room like a burst of lightning. She heard the thing on her chest cry out and watched as it was flung across the floor. It landed with a thump, and she could see it writhing, its body still infected with the purple glow. Eventually the light dimmed and the thing gave a shuddering, sickening sigh. She could only hope that it was dead.

Shakily, she got to her feet, the feeling steadily returning to her limbs. As she breathed in deeply. She tried to pull herself together again, staring into the darkness, her hands still shaking before she remembered – "Sango!"

She fell to the floor and shook the body on the ground but Sango didn't respond. "Sango!" She yelled louder than before, but still nothing. Standing up, she desperately felt the wall for the window she knew was somewhere nearby… ah, there. She grasped the tiny latch between her fingers and pressed, setting the doors free and pushing them open to let the moonlight stream in.

When she looked down again, Kagome gasped slightly, bringing a hand to her mouth as she stared. Sango was so pale… she was so deadly pale. Wordlessly she dropped back down to the floor.

"Sango. _Sango_!" She said, shaking her head while she shook Sango's shoulders. When nothing happened she stood back up and backed away slowly. '_She's not waking up_… _she's not -_' "Uh!" Her body went completely still as she stepped on something cold and wet, her eyes widened as she slowly lifted her foot back up again and turned. What she saw was almost enough to make her throw up. "_Oh… ew._" Was _that_ what had attacked her?

The demon snake was three feet long at least, and its head was now twisted brutally the wrong way, its eyes wide and yellow and popped from the sockets, thin trails of blood leading back to the imploded skull. The skin was long and cruel and black, its mouth torn open at an impossibly wide angle, frozen in a silent, gaping scream. And inside the mouth its fangs were still tinted pink with blood… her own blood. To think that thing had tried to eat her heart…

Suddenly she remembered the way she had felt when it slithered up her body: cold and paralyzed and unable to move. Was that why…? "Sango." She said, walking over to her friend and crouching down to her face. The slayer's eyes were closed. "Can you hear me?" She asked, hoping that the snake had at least left her with that sense. But even so, it was worth a try.

"I'm going to go get help." Kagome said, trying to sound reassuring. "I'm going to go get Inuyasha." But… she felt bad just leaving her there. What if there were more of those evil snake… _things_? She shuddered, catching a glimpse of the mangled body that was still lying behind her. "And I'll take you with me." She said, reaching down to awkwardly sling the slayer's limp arm around her shoulders. She was surprised at how hard it was to stand, but somehow she managed.

Kagome's breathing halted completely as a trace of something returned to her. For a fraction of a second she was alone in a cave with another woman… who was also weak and her body broken, and just like Sango's was now, Kagome was supporting the other woman's weight, trying to save the other woman's life even though a part of her… didn't want to.

She was snapped back into reality without warning, shaking her head and refocusing on her job. She had to find Inuyasha and Miroku, and yell at them for leaving Sango and her alone. And maybe with any luck, she'd be able to forget about that dream too. It always helped to look on the bright side.

"Where did it get to?" The black haired man asked, his patience wearing very, very thin.

"We don't know." A second man admitted, this one younger, his armor gleaming in the moonlight like the rest.

"We lost track of it in the forest." A third man admitted, just as ashamed as his partner was while they reported in to the first, who was roughly the same age as the two of them, but clearly in charge.

"How the hell do you '_lose track'_ of that thing?" The leader demanded, angry. "It's sent is so damn strong that you should be able to detect it from _miles_!"

"We're… we're sorry." The second man said, unable to make any excuses, knowing it would be fruitless. "We'll get it right next time."

The leader ran a hand through the hair that fell into his eyes before turning around and making a noise of frustration. "_Fine_." He said, his voice as hard and cold as ice. "I'll go track it down _myself_!"

The second and third man watched silently as their leader fled down the mountain, whipping up a whirlwind of silver dust in the moonlight – the only sign that remained of his tracks.

_Meanwhile, deeper in the same woods…_

"Would you stop doing that for a moment and take the time to asses the situation?" Miroku said tiredly, a deadly bored expression dragging down his face. For the past hour and a half he had watched Inuaysha pace the length of the clearing and then come back again. Over and over and over and over and over...

"You're the one to talk about taking the time to _asses the situation_!" Inuyasha countered, looking at Miroku in disgust. "How can you be so damn _calm_!" he asked, frustrated.

Miroku continued to watch as Inuyasha paced tirelessly back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. It had been two days and the hanyou _still _hadn't calmed down enough to take the time to breathe. Two entire days. Give it a few more hours and it would be three. Personally, Miroku hadn't been even a little surprised when Kagome told them her story. Her _whole_ story, from start to finish, whatever she _could _remember. That was including everything Naraku had done… and everything Naraku had _said_.

To say that Inuyasha had lost it when he heard a certain part, however, would be a gross understatement. Inuyasha had been infuriated, outraged, blood-thirsty and he still was. How _dare_ he lie to Kagome that way? How _dare _he tell her those things? How _dare_ he even lay on filthy, fucking finger on her! He'd rip the fucking bastard to _pieces_ and then kill him again!

Two days later and Inuyasha still out for blood. What was worse was that he now looked like a very big cat in a very small cage. Miroku knew that the hanyou was almost just as frustrated as the day when he had found out, the only difference now was that he had had forty-eight hours to get his emotions under control. But every once and a while he let them slip. "Being un-calm wont' exactly solve the situation." Miroku said, knowing it was useless but trying anyway. "And that pacing that you're doing won't accomplish anything either." He added darkly. "Unless of course you're trying to dig a trench."

"Would you just shut up for a second, you god damned… you - Argh!" Inuyasha turned on his friend and glared hard at him, his golden eyes flicking to the repulsive bruise still spread across Miroku's neck before he got control over himself again. He did this by kicking the nearby tree so hard that the wood cracked up the center. He didn't want to leave another bruise on Miroku's throat. "Damn it! Where the hell _is_ he!"

"Naraku, you mean?"

"Who the hell _else _would I mean?" he drawled venomously.

Miroku shrugged and tried to pretend as if he didn't know how much he as irking Inuyasha. "You could have meant anybody."

"Could you take this seriously!" Inuyasha asked, snarling. "You're passing this off as a joke!"

"What Kagome said changes nothing about my relationship with Naraku." Miroku said reasonably. "Solving the issue would be working with Kagome, _not _killing Naraku. Him telling Kagome that he loves her – don't look at me like that, I'm helping – achem – him saying that to her only makes our job regarding _Kagome_ harder, but it ultimately has no affect in our dealings with _him_… And you realize, of course, that we haven't even _found_ Shippo or Kaede yet?" Miroku asked, leaning his head against he tree.

"Of course I realize that." Inuyasha snapped, rubbing his fingers along his prayer beads absent mindedly.

Miroku smirked, remembering a day ago. "Still upset that she remembered the word?"

Inuyasha's ears flattened. "Stupid bitch. Figures that the firs thing she remembers about me is how to flatten me into the ground."

Miroku smiled. "It was an accident you know. You should have seen it coming. Technically she didn't remember at all, she discovered it quite by accident – you could tell from the look on her face. Plus, it must be some sort of relief to you, knowing that you share a link with her again."

"I could have done without _this _link." He grumbled grouchily. "And plus, none of that would have happened if you weren't flirting with that _girl_."

Miroku smiled before changing the subject. "Well then, I know this seems unreasonable, but why don't we do the _logical _thing for once and find Shippo and Kaede _before _you go on your hunt for Naraku."

Inuyasha grit his teeth together angrily, trying hard to keep himself from giving Miroku another bruise. "_No_."

"Well, consider this: what if Kaede _knows_ what's actually going on? What if she knows how to get Kagome's memory back? Even Shippo may be of some help. After all, he _was_ important to her. Maybe he'll help her regain her memory."

"She'll be fine for a few more days without it." Inuyasha said, "And she doesn't have to remember anything about the runt anytime soon. As if her discovering the _word_ wasn't enough…"

Shwing! Crack!

"_OW_!" Inuyasha whipped around, staring wide-eyed at the monk who had just cracked the hanyou's skull with his staff. "What the hell was that for!" Inuyasha demanded.

"Your idiocy." Miroku answered. "Listen to yourself, Inuyasha. You're so bent of revenge that you aren't even thinking of Kagome."

"Don't start this _again_." Inuyasha said, defending himself. "You _know_ she's the only person I _ever_ think about!"

"No." Miroku interjected coldly. "The only person you ever think about is _yourself_."

"I -" Inuyasha started before closing his mouth and letting the air fall out from his chest. Slowly he sat down and crossed his legs. "I just need to beat the shit out of something." He admitted quietly. "And I can't even… _think_ straight ever since she told me about it. It's like…" he sighed, "It's like my blood's on _fire_ or something. I'm just so… _pissed_."

"You're infuriated with him for touching her." Miroku said knowingly. "And you're jealous of him because she believed herself to love him in return."

Inuyasha's expression grew nasty while he turned his back to Miroku. "Well you don't have to go out and _say _it." He muttered, seething. "Bastard."

Miroku raised an eyebrow. "For your own sake of safety I'll assume that you were referring to Naraku just now. Not me."

Inuyasha didn't reply, he just grew very still.

"Inuyasha," Miroku said heavily after a moment of silence. "You have to-"

"Do you smell that?" Inuyasha interrupted, his voice low and dark.

"What?"

"That smell… I _know _that smell…"

"What."

"That demon… that's the snake from two days ago." Inuyasha said, standing up. "He's back by the hut. With Kagome…" '_She's in danger…_'

A muscle in Miroku's jaw flexed as his grip tightened on his staff. '_Sango…_'

"We have to get back." Inuyasha said, his eyes set dead ahead. "_Now._"

"After you." Miroku said.

_In the forest, a few miles away_:

The black haired leader stopped so hard and fast that the whirlwind around him cut against his skin. The pain did nothing to tear him from his shock. It couldn't be… "That scent." The man breathed, his blue eyes wide. "I _know _it…" He knew it so well. It was imprinted in his soul.

He turned, his dark, shadowy figure sheltered from the moonlight by the cover of the trees but the expression on his face was still readable. Even in the pitch dark. Shocked disbelief and just a little bit of hope… just barely a little. This man, so very young and so very strong, still had enough courage left to dare himself to hope.

Who knew how many times in the past year he had thought he picked up the scent, only to find that his mind was playing tricks on him, again. That the very wind he created was teasing him, again. And that the fates were trying desperately to drive his mind insane… again. He inhaled deeply, the muscles in his body painfully taught, every sense alert. It _was_ her…

She was coming closer. And… he felt a pit in his stomach weigh down his body in dread. So were the demons and friends…

'_She is not safe_.' He thought, the only thought that he was capable of that moment in time. The one thought of her occupying his whole mind. That was how deeply he thought of her. And somewhere inside himself, a part of him knew that it was a fool's game to allow himself luxury of indulging in irrational thought. Because he knew that she was dead. And yet when he allowed it, the devastating ache in his heart was unreal to him. For the first time in months. It _was_ _her_ scent.

Almost as soon as the dark haired man had appeared in the middle of the woods, so he started off again, running faster, running harder than he ever had in a very long time. Because he had to get to her first. Because he had to see her again. Because he had to save her.

And he would get to her first, see her again, and he would save her. Nothing was going to stop him. Nothing ever stopped him. The wolf-prince, Koga. Not when it came to Kagome.

* * *

**A/N:** Don't worry, I'm going back to fill in the gaps. Basically what I did is I fast forwarded two or three days in the plot of the story. Because I guess I just like to do that sometimes – jump ahead a day or two and then go back and fill it in. It gives me some freedom. In fact I'm reading this wonderful book now that does that a lot and I think it's inspired me majorly to write this way. Plus, it's the only thing so far that's helped me with my writer's block. ;) Anyway, hope you all liked.

Oh and by the way, the memory dream in the last chapter not a real scene in Inuyasha, its one of my own. I hope it was okay. **SPOILER ALERT! Do not read if you plan on watching Inuyasha the Movie II and don't want a spoiler!**: I know that not all of you have seen the second Inuyasha movie "Castle Beyond the Looking Glass" so you might be like '_second _kiss? What about the _first _one?' well the first one already happened in that movie, so please don't kill me for not giving them a first kiss because they already have one (Thank God too, do you know how hard it would be to write a realistic first kiss for those two? I mean I think I pretty much bombed the second kiss as is and I mean… come on: that's the _second_ kiss… shouldn't be _nearly _as awkward to write,)

Also (last I promise: I was really worried that I watered down Inuyasha in this last chapter, what with him admitting his feelings and all to Miroku. If it outrages any of you please let me know and I'll try to make him tougher the next time I post.

Anyway, love you all – really I do – and I wish you all a happy new year! 06! Ciao! And my birthday is coming up soon! Yay!


	28. I'll Race You for It

**I'll Race You for It…**

**A/N**: wow. So I went on a loooong hiatus. I doubt any of you are still reading this/remembered what the heck even happened in this. All I can say is that I'm back. And I'm pretty sure its for the rest of the summer.

And I yeah, I still love you guys and your reviews. Please let me know if you feel that I've lost it. Because I probably need to think about wrapping this story up.

**Disclaimer**: Any recognizable material does not belong to me.

**(Somewhere else… during the day)**

'**_Kagura!_'**

"_Augh_! _Ah_-!"

She screamed.

"Kagura?" Rin turned around, struck with surprise. When she saw the sorceress fall, she leapt forward to help. "Kagura!"

She was fifteen now…

Kagura reminded herself of this as she watched Rin start to approach her. An almost sixteen year old girl now… not a child. Not anymore. Though… nothing much had changed about her. Except that she was beautiful, and tall, and she _looked_ like a girl. Moved gracefully, like a girl. A young, gorgeous, beautiful girl.

Rin's hair was still long, choppy and layered into feathery halos around her face. She had grown a gentleness to compliment her raw energy, her raw feelings that she never tried to hide… like the fear and the worry that was painted all over her heart-shaped face. Yes, she was beautiful now. Just as beautiful as she had once been cute. And still just as willing to follow Sesshomaru to the ends of the Earth. Even if that meant leaving the rest of the world behind. Everything behind. Even if it meant dying for it.

And he… he was still just as willing to let her. Even more so.

"Kagura! What happened?"

Kagura had always been jealous of those two. And the stupid, unconditional, inexplicable loyalty that they shared for each other… only each other. They were all each other had… and they lived together, apart from everyone else in that damn little world of theirs. With Jaken – the annoying toad – and even the dragons. Kagura knew that no matter how hard she tried, she could never ever–

'**_Kagura!_**' The voice screamed inside her entire body again, making her world bleed white with pain. She had fallen to the ground before, and now she curled her body together into the grass, trying to squeeze it out of her skin, while Rin's flowers for Sesshomaru were dashed to the ground. The young girl dropped to her knees beside the curled body, laying her hands over the witch.

"Kagura!"

'**_Kagura!_**'

'_**KAGURA**!'_

Kagura shut her eyes tight, trying to will herself that this wasn't real. "No…" She said softly into the grass, so softly that no one could hear. …She knew the voice inside her head.

"_Kagura!_" Rin's voice fell into an unknowing harmony with the one inside her head, although the girl didn't realize what she was doing, "**Kagura**!" she was only making it worse.

Kagura's world was spinning painfully, her stomach pinned to the center of a circle while her body spun around it. Hot knives sliced up and under her skin, ripping it open… and her heart… oh God, her _heart_.

"I have-" the wind-witch gasped out in pain when she tried to sit up. "I have – ! To go back!" She shouted, shaking badly as she tried to stand.

Rin jumped to support her, throwing her body – which was only slightly smaller than Kagura's own– under the unsteady one.

"Sesshomaru!"

Kagura's crimson eyes flitted up, and for a moment she caught gold. They were cold, and hard, and emotionless and they regarded the sorceress. She couldn't blame Rin for calling out to the Demon Lord. The girl had done what she had always done as a child… reached out for the man she loved.

Kagura felt the pain in her heart grow fiercer, though she couldn't exactly tell the cause now. Whether the source was far away and had slate blue eyes, or was right in front of her, smoldering in icy gold.

"I… _must go_." She choked out, looking at him, for some sort of reaction, anything at all, while Rin still held her up.

He didn't even blink.

He just continued to regard her stoically, his face blank as it had always been. As it always would be.

Kagura bit her lip hard, the pain in her body becoming unbearable. She cried out when she reached into her hair and drew out a feather, relieved only when the wind reached out and cradeled her body, trying to sooth her.

"Rin." She said, her breathing heavy, her voice a little rougher than normal. "Take me… to it."

Rin bit her lip too, torn, and lifted her hazel eyes to look up at Sesshomaru "I… I don't…" She said, uncertainly.

"If she wishes to go. We shall not hinder her." Sesshomaru told the Rin evenly.

The girl made a small noise of surprise. "But… S-sesshomaru-sama -"

"Rin." He looked at her.

If she were a young child again, innocent and not a threat, he would have said to her, "do as you are told".

But she wasn't a little girl anymore.

And he didn't talk to her that way anymore.

Now, they only had to communicate with their eyes. Showing that blatant connection that he shared with her, fostered with her. Sesshomaru, the man who always severed his ties, bonds or any kind of relationship with everyone, even his own father and half-brother… was maintaining, nurturing even, this one he shared with this young, mortal girl.

Suddenly Kagura needed to go.

"Rin!" She snapped, haggardly. "What's taking you so long?"

The golden eyes that shot to her garnet ones, were smoldering and on fire, piercing right through her.

'_Don't you ever _dare _to raise your voice at her._' He seemed to say. '_Don't you ever dare to talk to _her_ that way._'

Kagura looked at the ground, her grip on Rin's shoulder tightening as she bit a scarlet lip. "Rin… I need to go. I'm being… called by Naraku." '_That bastard…_'

Rin looked up at her with big hazel eyes, worried and concerned and so naïvely pure… Kagura looked away to keep herself from slapping her.

Maybe Rin wasn't dangerous, wasn't a fighter, wasn't even remarkably smarter than Kagura was… but for some reason, she always won.

Rin was a now the only person that Kagura would never be able to touch. Couldn't even come close to hurting. She was the biggest threat.

Finally the younger girl seemed to give in, leaning forward and moving as best she could. She slowly hauled Kagura to the feather, and put her body on it.

The sorceress held her upper body up with shaky arms and looked at the gossamer between her fingers, making a point of not meeting Rin's eyes… or his.

"Farewell, then." She said darkly, hating him. Hating him even more, for once, than she had ever hated Naraku.

And as usual. He said nothing in return.

Just when she was ready to look up at him and scream, a pair of long, lithe arms wrapped around her and held her too tightly.

She tried to keep herself from gasping. Especially when she looked up and saw that the girl who was cradling her so supportively was Rin. Didn't she know what she was doing?

"I hope you'll be okay." Rin said, her voice sad and scared. And sincere.

For the first time, in a long time, Kagura felt something for her. The sorceress's heart, still raw and throbbing, did a little clench of guilt. She was jealous of Rin… jealous of the little, oblivious, mortal. Because she was so ignorant of the world. Of everything bad that went on… of pain. And also…

Her crimson eyes moved upward and fixed on his armor, because she couldn't look him in the face.

"I promise I'll be fine." She said, her voice sounding very strange…

'_She has him_.'

"Now let go." Kagura said, using her weak strength to shove Rin away. The girl stumbled backwards a little in surprise, and gently bumped into Sesshomaru, whose strong chest was there for her, his hand to steady her.

Rin looked up and smiled at him, for being there. And then stood up straight.

Kagura was sick.

Rushing so fast that even _her_ stomach turned funnily, she rose up into the air. But even then, looking down, seeing all of them – even that bug-eyed, toady, sad excuse for a pathetic demon, Jaken - staring up at her, their eyes only trained on her… she suddenly felt so alone. The stood there together, looking up at her, putting her apart. And she was on the outside of their world… staring back at them. There might has well have been a glass wall between them.

And the way that Rin was standing with him, so close, a little in front, right under his right shoulder, so much nearer to his chest and the thing that was beating inside it than when she had been a little girl, standing at his knee…

But now it was so obvious …. The two of them.

Kagura bit her tongue and clutched her fingers into the gossamer until she felt her finger nails cut into her palms…. it _hurt_. But then… callings always hurt.

She tried to forget about it. She tried very hard. But things like that never worked out for her.

'_Damn it_.' She said bitterly, trying to ignore the weakness she heard in her own voice, even when she didn't speak aloud. '_How the hell did I allow myself to become so jealous… of someone like her_?'

Maybe it was because the girl was someone… that she would never be. And the love that she shared was something that Kagura could never have, would never be warm enough, pure enough… to share such a simple, unconditional, clean… love.

She would never have that. Not with him. And not with anyone else in the world.

**(Somewhere else… dead of night)**

Kagome's heart was racing.

Inuyasha's mind was numbing.

Her breath was ragged.

Koga's muscles clenched.

Inuyasha's teeth bared.

Miroku's hands were clutching.

Claws tensing.

Eyes set hard with dead on focus. Their hearts… lost.

It was a race against time. And those never really went all that well. Time had this annoying habit of setting the pace, and that was pretty damn hard to beat. But that didn't keep them from trying.

The pressure.

By now the pressure was stringing along their veins, pumping through, cutting in the end. The pressure was pressing down around them… _you're running out of time_… _he's running out of time_… _she's running out of time_.

'_We're running out of time_.'

Inuyasha and Miroku were racing through the forest, chasing after the women they loved.

Koga was running against the doubt. The kind that would sink in as soon as he really, truly, allowed himself to realize what he was doing. Chasing after a dead girl. He loved her. Of course he loved her. But she _was_ dead. And he raced desperately against the time before the doubt caught up to him again – because it always caught up to him – that there was no way he would be able to find her at the end.

And Kagome… she was running from everything.

Okay so mostly she was running from the snakes. It was mainly about the snakes. But under the surface, there was the fear… her very own… over them, over herself, the past, Inuyasha, Naraku… everything. She couldn't let that catch up with her. She _wouldn't_ let it catch up with her.

And she had _known_ that this was a bad idea. Allowing, no more like _agreeing, agreeing_ to travel with them while they tried to help her regain her memory. She had thought that maybe if they were on the move it would have been easier for her to run away… but then why hadn't she tried it yet?

'_Don't think about that_' She said, knowing somewhere inside herself that she was just trying to preoccupy herself with thoughts so she wouldn't have to have a panic attack. '_The point was that you _knew_ this was a bad idea_.' Oh. Right. Of course.

So she _had _known. She had known it two days ago when she'd first crawled out of the bushes and asked them to tell her what was going on.

Wet, stained, and bruised and completely vulnerable. She still couldn't believe she'd done that. And the things that Miroku and Inuyasha had said to her that day… were they all lies? No… she didn't really think they were. So then why couldn't she bring herself to believe them?

'_Because… how could they be real_?'

Their story hadn't been like Naraku's story, easy to grasp and easy to believe… with proof and backup and everything to make her believe that she was with friends. Miroku's and Inuyasha's had been all complicated. So hard to understand, so hard to trust... she hated it.

But at least she'd realized that somehow, she _was_ connected to them. Inuyasha and his friends, whether they were her family or her blood enemies, (and she couldn't tell those apart anyway these days) they all had admitted that they were connected. Something strong, and something deep. Unbreakable. Like those dreams she kept having, no matter how hard she tried to stop.

And as for her feelings for Inuyasha… sometimes she couldn't tell if she wanted to throw herself into his arms, or push him off a cliff. It was so hard, and so confusing. But her connection to him was the only thing she had now, the only thing she _knew_. So she'd made up her mind. She was going to hold on to it. Until the end.

Whether she hated him or… loved him. Because… maybe there was a chance… that she'd loved him. Once.

Even he'd admitted to it. Sort of.

So two days ago, she'd decided to call a truce with Inuyasha.

And now she was seriously doubting it was the smartest thing to do.


	29. Sit Boy

**A/N**: Oh wow guys. Thank you so much for still being around for me when i came back. I was like, blown away by how many of you are still around. i love you all so much. its so special to see some of my very first reviewers still sticking around even after i totally deserted forlike... half a year. lol. i love you guys.

**Disclaimer**: See... um... some other chapter.

* * *

_Sit Boy..._

She stumbled through the forest, dragging Sango behind her, turning over the scent of dead autumn in her wake.

"Somehow." Kagome breathed heavily, trying to look over her shoulder and keep moving forward at the same time. "I _always_ end up doing this." – She meant running for her life.

Things were happening. She could feel all sorts of auras fogging the air, churning together … dizzying her. She didn't know what it meant – any of it. But it was violent. And it scared her to death.

Ironically, both of the two men she felt remotely safe with claimed that the other one was a murderer. And, she was starting to believe both of them. Geez, she had to get better taste in guys.

Cringing, she thought back to two days ago… when she'd had her first, civil conversation with the silver haired boy… Inuyasha. She one she had decided not to love. To stop herself from loving… if you could even call it love. If it was even real love. Or just something of the past. Maybe even… a false past.

(_**Two days ago… yes it's a flashback to the missing chapter 'Tell me about her pt. III** **squee!**)_

_The river gurgled peacefully. Something that didn't really make that much sense in the middle of her chaotic world. They sat next to each other, their feet in the water, being silent and awkward. _

_It was getting a little too strange…_

"_So… are you going to say something?"_

_Of course he'd be the one to break the silence. _

"_Or are we just going to sit here like idiots all day?" _

_He was blatantly annoyed, and sensitive as ever._

_She dared to try to look at him from out of the corner of her eye, and then sighed when she couldn't. "What… do you want me to say?" She asked quietly, looking at the water. "I'm a little freaked out."_

"_You're always-" He cut himself short, seeming to think better – for once – of what he was about to say. _

_He looked sideways at her, checking to see… if she was okay. Though he'd rather had his guts shredded out by Shippo and eaten raw then admit it. She seriously doubted that he was reassured… probably because she practically jumped into the water when she felt his hand, warm and crusted with calloused strength, gently slide over her own. _

_It was like he didn't know how to tell her, 'It's ok.' So he tried to do it without all words._

_She fought the urge to look down at their hands… but she couldn't help it. _

_Something about the familiarity of seeing their fingers together hit her like a lead weight in the face. They'd done this before… hadn't they? _

_How screwed up could the world be? _

_An image started to come back… a feeling, but it was tightly wrapped in her fear. And, for the first time, instead of trying to coax the memory forward, Kagome tried to slam it back as hard as she could._

_For the first time since she could remember, she didn't want to remember. _

_Because she was getting scared. The things she saw, her dreams, her own feelings, none of them were right. Why was she, after every "memory", left with feelings that were so strong, and so real but went against everything that she believed in? She couldn't understand them, couldn't understand herself. It was like she'd been violated with someone else's feelings, like she'd betrayed herself. And there was no one else to trust… _

_If she remembered one more thing that she had to fight with, she'd go insane._

_But she couldn't make the feeling leave… not as long as his hand was closed over hers. It was too strong. And that made it scary as hell. _

"_Umm… Inuyasha? Could you… not?" _

_She'd tried to be polite about it. She really had. But the look on his face made her feel as if she'd done something totally horrible. Like shaved and drowned a starving kitten…. Or ended the world. _

"_I don't trust you." She said, deadpanning. She just needed someone to be honest with. And even if this was the completely wrong person… well… she'd have to deal with that later. "I can't. Even if I wanted to… I just… I've been having dreams."_

"_Dreams?" He echoed, his voice filled with embitterment. "What the hell does that have to do with anything?" _

"_They're…" one more moment of hesitation… just one more. "The dreams are about you." _

_That shut him up for a few good seconds. But he recovered quickly. _

"_What do I do in these dreams?" He asked coldly. "Murder your family? Poison your friends? _Kidnap_ you_?" _His voice was dripping with sarcasm. _

"_You call me by Kagome." She said. "And… I don't mind it. Not in the dreams anyway. Its… natural. We… were different then. Weren't we?"_

_A sharp pain pierced through his eyes, and, as if she'd slapped him, he turned his head away, a curtain of silver falling between them. _

"_I don't even know if they're real." Kagome admitted. "But I had to tell someone. This girl…. She… who is she?" _

_He was silent. _

"_Please. I _need _to know who she is."_

_His voice was impossibly tight. "I keep telling you the same damn thing over and over again." He forced out. "_You – are – Kagome. _So stop fucking asking me._"

_She felt her heart breaking. "You can't possibly think… that it's that easy for me, to believe you." _

"… _And why the hell shouldn't it be?" He still refused to look her in the eye. "Have I done something _wrong_? Have I _hurt _you? Have I ever done _anything_ that even comes across as _mean _to you_?"

_She'd stared at him incredulously. 'I'm… not going to answer that one… for his sake.' She thought to herself._

"_Exactly." Inuyasha said, his soft tone screaming. "So why the hell can't you bring yourself to believe in me?" _

"_I… I just can't." she said. "I'm sorry. These things I've been dreaming…" she noticed his ears tweak just a little. "Crazy things about me" '_and you'_ "my… past. Or her past… I can't even tell."_

_She put her fingers in the water, and he watched them, dip and swirl under the surface. "Every time I wake up I have no idea who I am anymore…" She took a breath, trying to express this… but it wasn't going to work. "I think I'm losing myself all over again." She said. "And whether that means that I'll find out who I am in the end, or who I'm not, or… who you are… I don't know. But I'm not ready for it. I don't want it. I can't…" _

_He was so quiet. She tilted her head towards him, just that little movement, took all the courage in the world. "I know you." She whispered. _

_The silence screamed. _

_BUmm bummm bummmm! LoL _

_He stared at her, his voice clear though he never had to say it out loud. 'what do you mean'. _

"_I know you." She said it again. "I know little things about you, that I just... shouldn't." _

_He seemed to think for a long, hard time. Then he took a breath, and looked her dead in the eyes. "Are you alright?" he asked. The viciousness was gone. It was just him… and her. _

_The question struck her to the bone. _

_Was she alright…? How could he even ask her that?_

"_No." She said, smiling a little. "I don't think I am." She admitted. "But I'm working on it. I _want_ to be normal again." _'More than anything…' _"Can't you just… tell me something about her?" Kagome… Kagome… '_Please convince me, Inuyasha.' _"Just… say something. Anything. To make me stay here."_

_He looked at her frowning. "You're asking me to lie to you?" His eyes told her that he couldn't believe it. _

_Neither could she. _

_She opened her mouth to say no. "Maybe." _

"_I need something that I can hold onto." She said, in response to the look on his face. "Everything keeps falling apart." She looked at him. "And I'm scared. How would you feel? If you couldn't tell the difference between who was trying to help you, and who was trying to kill you? You can't tell what's real and what's a lie… and you can't trust anyone, even though you want to, sometimes. You can't depend on anything because they can hurt you if you do… Can you imagine it, Inuyasha?" _

_Inuyasha felt a dull ache flower inside his body from his chest. Yes. He knew exactly what she was talking about. It was being a hanyou. Now, at last, she knew what he had been talking about when he had told her about all those years alone. The way he had lived until he'd meet her. "Yeah." He answered quietly. "I think I've got a good idea."_

"_Multiply that by a thousand." Kagome said. "_I_ can't even trust _myself_." She shifted uncomfortably beside him and finally looked at the ground. "So just… just pretend for a little while… that we aren't enemies. And that you're helping me." _

'I am helping you_.' He looked at her silently, not saying a word._

_Her heart sank. _

"_I could have run away today." She said, trying again. "You know I could have. But I didn't. I want to hear your side. I need to know her, Inuyasha. And you're the only one who can help me find out." _

_He looked at her sullenly, and clenched his jaw before speaking. "She… she was the most stubborn girl I ever knew."_

End Flashback

Now Kagome panted, trying to find some of that dumb stubbornness that he'd been talking about, dragging Sango along behind her, a dead weight. This was probably not the time to be going down memory lane.

She didn't know where she was, or if she was even going in the right direction. But at least she was doing _something._ She'd deal with the consequences later. Plus, there was no way she was standing still to think about it when she was pretty sure that some of the rustling leaves weren't the sound of Sango's dragging feet.

She'd give anything for the comatose girl to snap out of it.

"Aaare you losst?"

Kagome felt her heart fall as she whirled to her right. "Oh no…"

"Poor little girl… so losst… so alone… so _vulnerable_." Anther voice said, addressing the other one, knowing she could hear them. "Let us help her, _loosen up_."

Kagome tried to back away from the sound of the voices, but only jumped when another one came from behind her. Right behind her.

"Don't be scared little _human_ girl… it only hurts if you can _feel _it."

"Yesss… only if you _feels_ it."

"We'll make sure you _can't_." A voice sailed down from above her, in the trees.

"How many of you _are there_!" Kagome yelled, exasperated, realizing that she was completely cornered.

"It doesn't _matter_…"

She screamed as a body slithered up around her angle and licked at her skin. "We know how to _share_."

"Get off me!" She and ripped the body off her leg, flinging it as far as she could and hearing the thump of it landing only a few feet away. They were the same snake demons as the one she'd killed before… and her hands were shaking just as badly as the first time.

She gasped loudly as something cold and wet and heavy landed on her shoulder and bit down into the skin. "Ah!" Reaching up frantically she ripped the snake's mouth of her body, hearing its contented sigh before it hit the dirt and started slithering.

"The taste is so _good_."

Kagome did her best to hold back her disgusted scream. "Get _off _me!" She tried to run, and an icy numbness started to spread deftly from her shoulder. The fact that she couldn't feel the pain made her heart contract painfully. This was so not good.

"Uh!" She stumbled forwards when something wrapped around her legs and bit into her ankle. From the pain blossomed the icy numbness… it spread so much more quickly than the first time. In about five seconds she'd lost all feeling in her leg.

She hit the ground hard.

And the snake in her foot was still leeching blood out of her body, its tail whipping her skin, and cording tightly around her ankle.

"_She was the most stubborn girl I ever knew." _

Inuyasha's words came back into her mind.

"_And she was stronger than anyone I'd ever met… And she always got herself into so much damn trouble."_

Oh yeah. The trouble thing she could _definitely _identify with.

"_And you and her?" She had asked him tentatively. "Were you guys…" _

_He didn't answer her. "If you can't figure-"_

"_I want to hear you say that you-." _

She could hear the other snakes slithering faster towards her.

"_I cared about her." He said, cutting her off before she could say anything else. "I would have died for her." He said, looking right into her face. Golden clashed with russet. "I didn't give a damn about anything else. I still don't… And she'd better have known it."_

Kagome scraped against the leaves on the forest floor, trying to crawl away. But Sango was too heavy, and she couldn't move her leg.

"… _You're not going to tell me are you?" She asked, looking at him. "You're not going to tell me how you felt about her." '_Even though… everything you've done and said sort of gives us away…' _She thought_. 'You did… love her didn't you? Or at least, you want me to think you did.'

_He looked at her, his face hard and unwelcoming. "No. I'm not. If I ever _did_ feel that way, about _anyone_, I'd sure as hell never say it out loud..." His eyes narrowed at her. "_She_ knew that."_

_Kagome felt the sting. "Wow." She tilted her head and looked away, her voice slow. "That actually hurt my feelings." _

"I can't feel anything… in my lower body." She searched the forest blindly, but only saw thick shadow.

_Inuyasha stood up roughly, and shoved his hand in front of her face, palm out. She stared at him for a moment before she realized what he was doing. She took his hand gently, and he pulled her up to a stand… _

_Only after, when his hand lingered on hers for moment, did she realize that she'd taken his hand without hesitating. _

_Oh crap. _

'So... you'll stay with me?'_ Inuyasha asked her. _

_Kagome looked up in surprise at him. "What?" _

_He turned and looked at her. "What?" _

"_Did you… just say something?" She asked. She knew that he had. Or at least she'd heard him. She just didn't know if it was something he'd really just said, or something he'd said a long time ago… _

_He stared at her hard. "No." _

"_Oh…" _

_Had that come from inside her head? _

'Yes.' _She thought inside her mind, answering the voice she'd heard. _'For now… I will.'

"_So… can I stay with you?" She asked aloud, because that's what she felt like she should have said. And somehow she knew she'd said it before. To him. _

_Inuyasha looked at her as if she'd shot a gun into the air, the bullet ringing through the mist. _

"_What?" _

_She linked her fingers together behind her back. "Can I stay with you? For now?" She asked. _

"_Uh… Feh!" He looked away, too quickly. She thought she saw a hint of something pink dusted over his cheeks… no. not possible. Inuyasha didn't blush. Did he? "As if… I'd ever let you run off on your own." He said. "You're such a klutz you'd get yourself hurt." _

"Yeah… wouldn't let me run off on my own." Kagome said angrily, grabbing handfuls of dead leaves in her hand and gripping them tightly, trying to feel her legs again… but they might as well have not been attached to her anymore. "But apparently you don't have any issues with leaving me behind! Jerk!"

_Her first instinct was to be mad. Her hands found their way to her hips, the familiar frown spread over her face and then… she smiled. _

_He was stunned. _

"_So…" She said brightly, trying her best to seem care-free, "How many more days do we need until we head out?"_

_His expression had gone sour. "We'll leave right now for all I care. _I'm_ fine." _

"_Are -" Kagome stared at him in shocked disbelief. "Are you serious?" _

"_Did I stutter?" Inuyasha looked at her, as if daring her to challenge him. _

_So she did. "You were impaled!" She shouted. "I could see your _spine_!" _

"_Yeah, well I'm not a weak little human like you, okay! I'm fine!" _

_Okay. Strike… five-hundred. _

"_Human or not! You need to rest! I heard that guy- monk – person arguing with you about it this morning!" _

"_Yeah, well he's an idiot!" _

'You're the idiot!' _She had to bite her tongue from screaming it out loud. _

"I should have just said it to him." Kagome said bitterly. "Ah! Ow!" She heard the deafening hiss, before she felt the fangs plunge into her lower back. "Ow! Get off!"

"The tassste. Its _goooood_."

"I get it you sicko! Now get off!"

It was useless… she was as good as dead.

"_Besides, with a weak little human like _you_ holding us up we need as much of a head-start as we can get." Inuyasha said, tossing his silver hair arrogantly. _

_Oh! If she could just… just… strangle him! _

"_Inuyasha you're such a… a…" She struggled for the right word, her fists balled up tight at her sides, her teeth grinding together. Her cheeks flushed and hot. Just… just…! "Urgh! Oh! You… you! **SIT BOY**!"

* * *

_

**A/N**: haha. Ok. Show of hands: who saw that one coming? Lol.

Ok, next chapter coming up soon.

So much love,

nanirain.


	30. Fragment of Doubt

**A/N**: ok so im posting two chapters in one day, because although I _really_ wanted to leave you guys with a cliffie, I then realized that that it would be just downright mean, so I decided to post up the two chapters at the same time. Because what with my long hiatus and all, I figured I've been mean enough to last me a long while.

Thus begins my phase of extra-niceness!

Yeah… I know, I'm weird.

**Disclaimer**: No recognizable material belongs to me.

* * *

Fragment of Doubt...

"_Sit boy!"_

… _Slam. _

_He'd made a strange noise on his way down. Kind of like a half yelp, half screaming thing. _

_His voice cracked. His hands flew out, his legs gave way and he abruptly body slammed the ground. _

… _What the-?_

_Kagome stared at him, his body covered with dirt, his little silver ears twitching in time with his fingers. And then she couldn't stop laughing. Her hand clamped hard over her mouth as she watched him struggle up, biting her lip against he constant stream of laughter that was sipping out into the air. _

"… _Oh hell no…." Inuyasha said very slowly, refusing to believe what had just happened. "No_ - fucking - way!"

_That only made it worse. Her stomach started to ache, she was laughing out of control, bent forward, unable to stop. And feeling better than she had in a long time. She was crying. And for once, it wasn't because she was sad. _

_Did that big crater in the ground _really _mean what she _thought_ it meant? There _was_ only one way to make sure, right? _

"_Oh, Inuyaasha." She sang._

_He could hear the stupid smile in her voice. _

"_Don't you dare!" He tried to scramble up to -_

"_Sit boy!" She chirped, and he slammed deeper into the ground. _

_Kagome took a shaky step away, one arm around her stomach, the other over her mouth. Oh… this was just too perfect. It didn't make any sense to her. But really, who cared?_

"_Sit boy!" She stifled through giggles. _

"_Nuh-!"_

"_Sit boy!" _

"_Urk!" _

_And just once more… because she really needed it. "_Sit - boy!"

"**QUIT IT ALREADY!**"

…

'_If only he were here right now…'_ Kagome thought in dazed anger. "I'd sit him into the dust." She whispered. Some strange part of her realized that whispering was all she could do…

The air around her was getting thick, hard to breath. Her black world growing blacker. … And where was she again?

There was a loud hiss from behind her, as if to answer her. Oh… right. Snakes… she was being eaten by snakes… snakes were nice.

"Kagome!"

'_Kagome_…' She thought, barely opening her eyes to see foggy images dancing around her head. '_Is that my name…?_' She frowned weakly. '_No… I don't… think so._'

"Kago-may!" Someone grunted, and it took her a long time to realize that it wasn't her. Oh… so then she wasn't alone? She stared lazily at the ground, not really seeing anything. That was nice…

She didn't particularly like the idea of dying alone…

_Elsewhere…:_

"So nice to see that you've returned, Kagura."

"… My pleasure." Her voice cold enough to kill.

"So. How did you enjoy your little outing?"

She ground her teeth together in anger and opened her fan to try and hide the hate on her face. So he knew. "I was waiting for you to call me back. You left me behind when you moved the mansion."

Naraku gave her a cold, cruel grin. "Oh, Kagura." He said, still smiling that cruel, icy smile on his face. "You can do so much better than that."

Her insides chilled.

"So." He said. "You want to know my secret don't you?"

"Secret?" she echoed, her voice hard. Honestly, she couldn't give a damn about it.

"Yes. The secret." His sick slate blue eyes seemed to dance. They flashed garnet for a second, mirroring her own. And she hated it. "Didn't you ever find it strange?" He asked.

"What." She snapped, unable to hide the malice for much longer.

"Kagome." He answered.

She didn't trust herself to speak, so he continued without her.

"No matter how many times Inuyasha and his friends tell her the truth about who she is, she can never stop herself from doubting them?"

Kagura's eyes narrowed. She didn't like this. "What are you talking about?" Her fingers curled tight around the base of the fan.

"Inuyasha. Miroku. Sango. The _dreams_. No matter how much proof she receives of her actual identity, she can never bring herself to _believe _it." His smile grew more self-satisfied. "Didn't you ever wonder as to _why_?"

'_You're planning something…_' Kagura thought. '_What the hell are you up to now_?' Kagura stared, only half sure as to how she was supposed to react.

(_Elsewhere…_)

"Get off her!"

Did she know that voice?

"Kagome, can you hear me? You're being eaten! Kagome, wake up!"

'_Eaten_…?' She thought vaguely to herself. '_Me…? What am I eating?_'

"Kagome!"

Oh… there was something about snakes… right… snakes.

"Kagome!" A second voice rang out through the air, different from the one who had been calling out to her before. And much, much more familiar. She knew that other voice.

"Inuyasha…" Her throat was so stiff and unmoving that she had issues recognizing her own voice. The other voice… it was Inuyasha. Inuyasha…

That bastard. _He_ had been the royal idiot who had gone of in the middle of the night, leaving her to be eaten by… snakes? Oh. Right. She was being eaten by snakes. … Wait, she was being eaten by snakes?

Suddenly realization snapped into her, and she started to wake. Snakes. Oh, God. She remembered. She'd been running through the woods, and…

And she could _feel _them, slithering over her body.

"Get… off of me…"

There was some sort of fight going on above her… she could feel the movement. And something, inside her, building up… so strong. The mouths biting into her skin.

"_GET OFF OF ME_!" Her scream echoed, the dam in her body breaking and a white-purple light exploding. She felt the weight that had been pressing on her dissipate, screaming echoing in her ears. And the smell… of burnt flesh.

"The amber didn't just erase Kagome's memories." Naraku said, the wicked grin now frightening. "It also prepared her body to be implanted with a tainted sacred jewel."

He might as well have slapped Kagura in the face.

"Wh-what?"

Naraku watched her for a while, taking pleasure in her shock. "You remember the curse of the dark Miko?" Naraku asked. "She implanted tainted shards in Kagome's body to kill her. Her spell failed. But the failure lay in her lack of power over Kagome's sacred powers…" he smiled. "So I've implanted the _entire_ Shikon jewel inside her, to suppress her memories… and also to keep her from ever being able to believe in the possibility that she could be Kagome."

'…_You… sick bastard_…'

"If you'd been watching her," Naraku continued. "You would see. Every time a memory starts to return to her, she loses consciousness. Her world swims, her vision hazes, she gets nauseous… blacks out. All because of the jewel. However…"

Kagura watched as Naraku's smile started to fade.

"Kikyo's reincarnation is powerful. She's capable of remembering little things, if she enters a dreaming-state, and starts to purify the jewel. I took this into consideration. I designed the jewel so that it would leave a haze of doubt on her mind once she awoke." He smiled again.

Kagura wanted to slap him. "And if she purifies the jewel? What then?" She challenged him. It was a dumb move.

Naraku tossed his head to the side. "Why do you think I sent those snake demons after her? To collect her _blood. _As she purifies the jewel, I pour more of the blood they bring me on the single shard I kept to myself, and the entire jewel becomes tainted once again." Another cruel laugh – if you could even call that a laugh – escaped from his chest. "She will always remain in doubt… over who she is."

Kagura stared…. Then… did that mean that Kagome couldn't help her gain her freedom?

"You're silent." Naraku said, staring at her hard.

Kagura met his eyes and frowned. Something was different… "Why are you telling me this?" She asked. '_It's not in your nature to share you plans with anyone… you _hate_ to explain yourself… so what are you doing now?_'

He smiled. "Because I'm sending you… to tell Inuyasha."

For the second time, she felt as if he had flattened her with a freight train. For the longest time the only thing she could do was stare in shock. And then she finally managed to gasp, "Wh-what?"

(Elsewhere…)

When Kagome opened her eyes, she was wide awake. And she was also floating in mid-air. The wind that she couldn't feel was coiling her dress around her legs, sprawling her hair out around her face. Below her, on the ground were thousands of dead snakes. Charred, fried,… scorched. Their bodies twisted cruelly around each other… it was slaughter. Sango lay unharmed in the clearing, the bright purple light that seemed to be coming from… well from her… her _body_, illuminated the entire forest.

And below her was a man with dark black hair and startlingly azure eyes… staring right at her.

And, for a moment, she knew exactly who he was.

"Koga."

**A/N**: Since I haven't posted in such a long time, I figured that I'd keep it going. So I'm posting up two chapters at a time. Please though, it would be so cool if you got up and stretched around at this point or did something else just for a bit. Get a glass of water… have an apple. Whatever…. Or just read this incredibly long author's note. . That ought to do it.

As she floated down to him, he felt the peace wash over him. This couldn't be real. He had to be dreaming. There was no way that Kagome, the real Kagome, was actually there, in front of him. Floating down from the sky no less.

But he didn't give a damn about it.

He felt the doubt come into his mind, and then leave when he heard her say his name. It was so good to hear her voice again.

When Kagome put her toe to the ground, the strange purple glow that had surrounded her vanished, and she was normal again. She looked at him with open russet eyes. Kagome's eyes.

Before she could say or do anything, he grabbed her into his arms and held her more tightly than he'd ever held anyone in the world. He could feel her in his arms. He could smell that clean scent on her skin. He could touch her again…. And she was alive.

After a moment, she gasped and put her hands on his chest, pushing him back, with startlement.

Their eyes locked and she stared at him with such completely different eyes that for a moment he didn't know her. Her expression had changed. Terrified shock.

And from her lips, came the last thing he ever expected her to say to him.

"Who are you?"

( Deeper in the Forest )

The bright flash of purple light hadn't, actually, reassured Inuyasha. It scared the hell out of him. The purple light meant sacred powers. Sacred powers meant a fight.

A fight meant that Naraku was probably involved.

And that meant that he had been stupid again.

It meant that he had left her, alone. Again. And if anything had happened to her this time, he just didn't think he could handle it. He knew he wouldn't be able to handle it.

_"He said he loved me, you know." She'd said to him that night that she'd decided to stay with him. _

_It was hours after she'd remembered that damned word again, and they'd been traveling, making fairly good distance. When they set up camp and went to bed, Kagome went out to sit on the hillside of their camp, watching ocean of stars above her. _

_And he'd sat out there, right next to her. _

_Because he'd be damned if he was dumb enough to let her use some dumb excuse like star-gazing as her newest get away plan. _

_"You don't have to worry about me running off you know." She'd said, with a raised eyebrow and half-lidded eyes of annoyance and suspicion. _

_"The hell I don't." He spat back from his place on the ground, lying back with his arms linked around his head, a makeshift pillow. . _

_She sighed heavily. And then he saw her smile out of the corner of his eye. _

_"I could just say-"_

_"Don't you even_ think _about it!" He snapped, body going tense, and she laughed, making his heart do a funny thing inside his taught chest. _

_They'd sat there for hours, her staring at the sky, not even moving an inch. After a while he wondered how someone could spend such a long time staring at the same damn thing without losing patience. _

_But just as he was starting to get the hang of it she'd said something. _

_"He said he loved me, you know." _

_He turned the words over in his head slowly, stared at the stars as if they were something completely new and then felt his flesh start to grow hot. _

_"What?" _

_She bent her knees up to her chin and plucked a strand of grass out of the ground. She fingered it absent mindedly, seeming a little sad. "Naraku. He loves me. He… he kissed me." _

_He'd spoken very slowly… enough to chill both their blood. "And… You didn't say anything to me?" _

Inuyasha's fists tightened. How he'd hated her then. How he'd _hated_ her. _Hated _himself. _Despised _Naraku. He had never thought, until that moment, that it was possible for him to feel any more disgust for Naraku than he already felt.

He had been so wrong.

Perfect hatred.

It was something that he doubted anyone else had ever felt. Or else the world would have been a much uglier place.

And he hated them too. Because they'd never have to hold on to the pain of hating someone as much as he'd hated everyone when Kagome had told him what had happened between her and Naraku… what Naraku had _told _her.

Perfect hatred. More than anything else, he realized… _hurt_.

(A/N: Lalala… im being SO ridiculously dramatic here oh well)

It had only been a whisper.

But it was still enough to shatter Koga's world. "What?"

"Who… are you?" She repeated again, her voice just as soft. And when he looked into her eyes. He saw no recognition… no warmth… only fear and mistrust.

And he felt his own cold knife of fear start to form in his gut.

He pulled her a little closer to him. "Kagom-"

"Get the fuck away from her."

Koga's ice blue eyes hardened in the dark before they ever met the glowing gold ones.

"Inuyasha." Kagome said his name, almost without thinking, and it made Koga's insides writhe. She recognized _him_…

Tetsuigia's tip glinted in the moonlight. Inuyasha held it out with one hand, pointing it directly at Koga's heart. They could have leveled each other with their eyes.

"You." Koga' s voice was so dangerously low that it made Kagome shiver. "What are _you_ doing here?" He asked, pulling Kagome closer to his chest. His hands firmly holding to her waist, hers resting uncertainly on his shoulders. They had nowhere else to go.

"I said to get – the fuck – away from her."

"Heh." Koga laughed, but it was cruel, and hard, and the emotion behind it wasn't anything that ever belonged in laughter. His fingers tightened protectively on her. At least she hoped that it was protectively.

"Tell me what the hell's going on first." The man with black hair demanded.

"You step away from her."

"No."

"Damn it, Koga, get you _away _from her!"

"_You _tell me what the hell is going on!" Koga's voice had risen to match Inuyasha's, and for a moment, Kagome felt like the two of them were the same exact person, screaming at their reflections.

"She's alive. And she's back, and she's with me, and that's all you need to know about it!" Inuyasha snapped, taking a step forwards. "Now let her go!"

"… No." Koga's hard blue eyes slashed with cruelty for a moment, directed at Inuyasha's. "You've got to be insane if you think that I'd_ willingly_ give her back to you after what you did." Koga clenched his teeth together, drew back his head in disgust and then shouted. "_You _who let her _die_ three years ago!"

Kagome felt as if someone had impaled her heart with a knife. Silently, she turned her head to look at Inuyasha. So it was true… everything Naraku had said to her about him had been true. He'd tried to kill her three years ago. He'd murdered Testuya's parents. Kagome… didn't even exist. And he'd pretended to care about her.

The hot tears that spilled into her eyes stayed trapped there as she glared at him. "I trusted you." She whispered hoarsely, trying to start at him, the hatred buried with her tears. "I _trusted you_!" She screamed then, finding her voice and throwing herself at the cage of Koga's strong arms. "You _lied to me_!" She screamed, senselessly, her throat aching and raw. "You lied! You _lied_! _Murderer_!"

"I didn't!" Inuyasha shouted, starting at her. "And I'm _not_ a traitor!"

It wouldn't occur to her until later that she had never called him a 'traitor' but instinctively that had been his reply…

Koga jumped back, Kagome in his arms and all. He used her own weight against her and swung her bridal style into his arms. She fell backwards unwillingly into his hold.

"Inuyasha…" She said softly as they sailed through the air. '_How could he…? How _could _he?_' She never took her eyes off him as he glared up at them. When they finally touched the ground again, they were a good seven feet away.

But still close enough for her to see his eyes.

And he was furious.

"I don't know what's going on." Koga said when he touched the ground, his eyes on Inuyasha's. "But I'm going to find out. She's with_ me _now. And she's going to stay here. _Right _here. And I'll _die_ before I'll give her back to a useless piece of filth like you!"

"Then I guess you're going to have to get ready to _die_!" Inuyasha launched himself towards them, his sword drawn, aiming for Koga's head.

The Prince stepped easily out of the path. Kagome had barely even felt them move…

He was so fast.

"Damn it!" Inuyasha turned, his silver hair moonlit and swirling in his wake.

And Koga punched hard into the silver haired boy's gut. The hanyou coughed up a spurt of blood and hit the tree behind him hard… a dark red flower starting to blossom through his shirt.

"Bastard…" he coughed, wiping his mouth with the back of his wrist. The blood was a sick, dark smear on the back of his hand.

She tried not to scream.

"I can smell the blood coming from that wound I just re-opened." Koga said, coldly. "You must be in a lot of pain. Honestly," he spat, "What kind of idiot goes out of hiding with a wound like _that_? You're pathetic, hanyou."

Inuyasha glowered at them.

And suddenly, she felt dizzy.

'_Not a demon…_' Inuyasha's voice circulated in her head, and she had to fight off the dizziness that always sucked her into unconsciousness. '_Not a demon, but not human either. … I didn't belong with anyone… so I did what I had to do… used force to carve my own place in the world. You can't trust _anyone, _because you're a pathetic hanyou. … I had a place in the world after a while. But it was only after that I realized that I was the only one in it. And it was too late to change anything about it…."_

"Inuyasha." She whispered, her eyes rolling up, and her body going limp as she collapsed into Koga's arms.

"Kagome." Inuyasha coughed, a trail of blood dripping from his lips, as he struggled to stand up.

Koga ran.

Inuyasha, tried to follow, and hit the ground hard. "Kagome!"

"I don't understand." Kagura said. "Why would you want Inuyasha to know about this! What will that _do_!" She demanded.

In the dark room, Naraku only smirked, staring her down. "You _have_ your orders, Kagura. Now deliver it."

She bit the insides of her mouth with her teeth to keep herself from losing control. The taste of blood shocked her body back.

"But first… wait to see the results of this battle Inuyasha is going to have with the demon prince tomorrow."

"… Understood." Kagura said, and he knew that she was practically shaking with anger.

"You are dismissed."

Grudgingly, she turned on her heel and started for the door. But when she pulled her fan to her chest, whipping the bamboo sheet away from the frame, he stopped her.

She caught the edge of the curtain with her hand, but never turned her face to him.

"If Inuyasha should live, then you are to give in the message in a day."

"… And if he dies?"

"... You can't deliver a message to a dead man."

She could hear the amusement in his voice, but she didn't have to cover her hatred with a fan this time.

"Fine." She said stiffly, and left.

"Oh, Inuyasha." Naraku said, looking down at the patterns that the moonlight set on the floor. What will you do? I wonder." Naraku said, now alone in his cold, hard room. "Will you remove the sacred jewel, once you realize it's what's keeping you apart?" He laughed and tilted his head against the beam. '_For if you do pull the jewel from Kagome's heart… you are sure to kill her.._.'

* * *

**A/N**: Bum bum bummm!Lol. I love doing that. - Oh and by the by, one of my altime fav reviewers just popped back up, returning to this story! It made me sooooo happy that i read it like, five times. ForgottenAngel, I love you. 3

**Disclaimer: **Any recognizable material does not belong to me.

**Next time**: _The Scar in my Heart_

"You never _could _protect her decently, _could_ you half-breed?" Koga sneered. '_I always hated you for it_'. "Let's see if you still have that scar I left you the _last _time we fought… three years ago. On the day you let her die!"


	31. A Reason to HateI: Latent in evry man

**A/N**: Ok. So. Guess what crazy thing nani off and did? She went to china. Yeah. Guess what she didn't realize that implied – not the same electrical outlets. Therefore, no typing on computer. I was so fucked. But now my Chinese is really good! And I'm also so behind on this story! So um, apologies! I would have warned you that I was going to China for a little over a month if I had realized sooner that it would have held things up. smacks herself stupid me.

Anyways, a reviewers was just remarking (about a month ago) that Inuyasha had it really rough in this fanfic. Yes, I agree, I've been quite mean. but the poor dear simply must go through hell and back again before he's capable of expressing his feelings... right?

Also, parts of this story may be confusing because I read the mangas ahead online. So, for those of you who don't, you should probably know that in the later episodes, Koga and Inuyasha have sort of become friends, and Koga has sort of given into the fact that Kagome loves Inuyasha, though, he still claims to have feelings for her. It's um… a bit complicated. If you don't like to think about it, just pretend as if it's part of the fic, yeah? OK. Again, sorry for being gone. Hope I can wrap this story up soon!

**Disclaimer**: No recognizable material belongs to me.

* * *

"_Latent in every man is a venom of amazing bitterness, a black resentment; something that curses and loathes life, a feeling of being trapped, of having trusted and been fooled, of being the helpless prey of impotent rage, blind surrender, the victim of a savage, ruthless power that gives and takes away, enlists a man, and crowning injury inflicts upon him the humiliation of feeling sorry for himself." – _Paul Velery. 

_A Reason to Hate: This Scar Upon My Heart..._

OoOoOoOo

The silent stillness that Kagome found herself waking into was so thick, that it was as if the air had been laden with lead. For a moment, she wasn't sure if she had actually woken up at all. It felt like she was still in a dream.

And then she was dizzy.

And then, she had no idea where she was. Again.

But this time, she didn't scream. She didn't cry. And she didn't freak out. Not this time. In fact, she was almost tempted to just not get up. She would just lay there for hours on end and stare at the rock room until she recognized something. But of course, that would never happen…

"You're awake." Someone said.

A pair of sharp blue eyes were looking right at her.

'_Is that a good thing or a bad thing_?' She wondered to herself, but said nothing.

"I've been waiting for you all morning." He continued.

"…Thanks."

The man who was squatting before her was strong and lean, his face sharply cut at handsome angles, ebony hair teasing his dark blue eyes and drawn up into a high pony tail in the back. He might have been a year or two older than herself. And his hair must have been longer than hers too.

What was it with all the guys who she became involved with and really, really long hair? It was just… weird.

"You're the one who was fighting with Inuyasha?" It was only half a question. She didn't even care whether or not he answered it.

The man looked at her as if considering whether or not he should tell her something, but he seemed to think the better of it. Instead he stood up, and offered her his hand.

She took it without questioning or suspicion, not because she didn't have questions or wasn't suspicious, but just because she was too sick of them to care.

She was sick of being pulled around by all these crazy people. And at this point she just wanted to sigh, roll her eyes and say "whatever" to life.

So she did. And she took the stranger's hand.

Said stranger then lead her toward the exit, and then they walked out of the cave together into a blinding light. When her vision cleared again, she found herself standing on a long ledge of black rock, hanging over flat plateaus a giant river-valley. The ledge she stood on was wrapped around the face of a mountain, and the clear blue water that fell from the peak created sheet-like falls beside her, covering the entrance to the cave she had just left.

She stared at the beauty before turning to the man again. The look on his face was unsettling. He stared at her in such an odd way… an expression was a little too intense for comfort… but she didn't really want to know why.

"Where are we?" She said, letting go of his hand. She noticed that his fingers stayed closed around hers for a little longer than they should have, and her stomach started to crawl. No _way_. … _Not_ him too!

"You're at the den of the western wolf-demon tribe." He said, totally serious.

"Of course I am." Kagome tiredly, closing her eyes. "And…" she slowly opened them again, looking at the sky. "Inuyasha?"

She couldn't stop herself from asking.

She just couldn't.

But it seemed to be exactly the wrong thing to say.

"Dead…" Koga answered bluntly, looking at the waterfall, his eyes a burning blue, as if trying to sear through rock. "Hopefully."

She hadn't realized that she'd forgotten to breathe until he'd said 'hopefully'. "So where is he?" she hated the funny feeling in her heart.

"… I don't know." The man answered hotly. "And frankly, I don't give a damn."

'_I shouldn't either_…' Kagome thought to herself, watching the water hit the ground. '_I mean - He _is_ the boy… who betrayed me._' She shook her head and gave a little laugh, barring her right forearm across her stomach and holding onto her opposite elbow. The dark smear that had been on the black of Inuyasha's hand last night shot into her memory, as well as the look on his face when she had been taken away. '_Inuyasha_…'

For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to hate him. Instead she just felt strangely numb.

"_I would have died for her." _She remembered his words, and smiled, bittersweet.

'… _Liar._' Kagome thought, staring at the way the water turned white when it smashed into the surface, watching the patterns of the air stirred inside the pockets of mist.

"What happened?"

Her thoughts interrupted, Kagome turned around and looked at the man who was standing beside her. She didn't recognize him at all. But clearly, she had known him.

"What do you mean?" She asked emotionlessly, staring down over her shoulder at the ground.

"… You died." He said slowly.

She felt a momentary stab of pain and fear before it flit away again. She knew it was true. It had been the only constant in everyone's story. And plus, she could just feel it in her entire body.

But she was getting used to the idea of it.

"I guess…" She said slowly. "I did." '_I must have_'.

"But... that was so long ago. I'd started to -" he stopped, and then trailed off, and she could only bring herself to stare at the ground. "And… now you're back." He said slowly, his voice sounding different.

"… Yes." She answered, and her voice didn't sound like her own. "I'm back…"

There was a moment of hesitation, and then he asked, "Are you real?"

She blinked and looked up at him. That was the cheesiest question she had ever -. But when she saw his face, and the way his eyes bore into the water below them, she realized that he was being so serious. And she found herself actually thinking about what he'd meant.

"… I don't know." She answered quietly, and then hesitated. "Does it… really _matter_?"

He didn't give her any answers.

OoOoOoOo

"I've got your wound re-covered. And you're bleeding's just stopped, so for God's sake don't move."

"Where is she?" was the response.

It was the first thought that his only just-half -conscious mind had formed.

"With Koga."

Inuyasha, half dead and barely conscious, flattened his silver ears against his head and growled groggily. "Son of a bitch."

"Yes. But at least she's safe with that, '_son of a bitch_'." Miroku said. His words failed to comfort.

"… How's Sango?" Inuyasha's leader instincts kicked in, and that was very good. Miroku couldn't remember the last time Inuyasha had cared enough to check on either himself or Sango… ever since the incident three years ago, the only person Inuyasha's mind ever revolved around was _her_.

"She's alright." Miroku said. "Feeling dizzy from blood loss but… alright."

"… How much time does she need?"

"Less than you do."

"…"

Miroku eyed his friend dryly. "Inuyasha… you're not going to leave yet."

"…"

"_Inuyasha_." The man pushed.

"_What_?" The hanyou snapped, though he was still lying on the ground.

Miroku sighed and rubbed the heel of his palm over his eyes, his fingertips pushing back his hair out of smoky lavender eyes. "Koga's feelings from the past haven't changed at all. He still hates you just as much as when he-"

"Yeah." The hanyou interrupted. "I know."

"He won't hesitate to kill you."

Inuyasha grunted.

"So you won't go." Miroku proposed. "Not until you're healed."

Another grunt.

"Inu-"

"Alright! Fine! I get it!" Inuyasha snapped. "Now leave me alone!"

"Alright. If you promise me that you'll wait."

"What, you think I can't handle it?" Inuyasha challenged darkly from where he lay.

"I know _you_ can handle it. I'm just not sure that afterwards _we'll _be able to handle you."

Inuyasha continued to look at the ground with that same brooding stare. "Alright. Fine. I'll wait." He finally caved, and Miroku let out a breath that both of them were surprised that he'd been holding.

"Alright then, call if you need me, or drag yourself to that hut over there, I'm going to go get Sango water."

"Hey, lech."

Miroku stopped and turned around. "Hmm?"

"Don't you try anything perverted with her…. I mean, taking advantage of her now… it's just low." Inuyasha said, adding a darkly muttered afterthought: "Even for _you_…"

Miroku laughed and raised his good hand into the air. "Of course, of course, Inuyasha, how could you ever even think that I would try something with her at a time like this?"

Inuyasha gave him a hard, dry stare. "Oh I don't know. Maybe because you're _fingers_ are twitching like that?"

"Uh…" Miroku looked over at the hand that he had raised and saw that they were indeed slightly twitching in the air. Inuyasha stared pointedly at him, and Miroku could feel a line of sweat run down the back of his head. (**A/N**: Anime sweat drop! too cute!).

"Uh… heh heh." Miroku laughed nervously, snapping the hand back down to his side and clearing his throat in a sudden business like manner. "Please, ignore that. It's from a lack of… sleep."

"Sleep." Inuyasha repeated, his voice still low with accusation. "…right."

Miroku cleared his throat again, and decided to exit. They both knew that he wasn't fooling anybody.

"You realize that that sentence doesn't make you sound less like a lecher, right, lech?"

Miroku halted abruptly for a moment, and decided to simply pretend that he hadn't heard Inuyasha at all. "Right well…" he said, so horribly over-cheerful that Inuyasha wanted to vomit. "As I said before, if you need me-"

"I know. Get lost."

As soon as Miroku was gone Inuyasha started testing himself. He tensed the muscles in his arms, and he could still make them as hard as rock. He moved his arm in upward curls to his face and back to his sides, tried out his legs, did one crunch.

The crunches nearly made him cry out loud, but he bit his tongue in the nick of time. The bleeding had stopped, but the wound was still so sensitive that he could barely move it without feeling as if that damned ogre were ripping out his back all over again.

Well, then… he only had one choice.

He stood up slowly, looked around at his surroundings and inhaled deeply. He could have picked up her scent from a mile away. _And_ that damn wolf's. He shrugged on his white shirt, which Miroku had removed to tend his wound, but didn't tie it. No time, the only coverage for his upper body were the thick white bandages wrapped around his middle. And he cursed the wound for still not having healed yet.

Within a second he had launched himself into the trees, ignoring the way every muscle in his body screamed at him to stop it. Because the weakest one, that lay alone beneath the cage of bone, thumping faster and faster the closer he grew to the old Wolf Den that he used to know so well, was desperately begged him to go faster.

Well… he _had_ technically waited… a little.

OoOoOoOoOo

"Do you know me?" The man asked her, his gaze too intent.

Kagome shook her head.

A sense of hopelessness washed over Koga as he looked at her. She looked so… different than she used to.

"But you said my name last night."

She blinked and looked at him, actually surprised. "I - …_ What_?"

"In the woods, when you used your sacred powers, you said my name." His voice was getting faster.

'_Sacred powers_?' She stared at him incredulously, not having a single clue. Maybe he had also go insane? It wasn't as if it wasn't a trend as of late.

"You were floating over me." His voice was getting louder, more insistent. "And you looked me right in the eyes and you said it, you said my name!"

Yup. Definitely a physco.

Forcibly, he took her shoulders into his hands, and she moved her head away from him, startled, as he pulled her closer, staring intently at her. "I know you know it!" He said. "Tell me my name!"

She looked at him for a moment, still taken aback from his sudden passion, and then let a slow, bitter-sweet smile slide across her face. "But… I don't even know my own." She told him.

Koga stared at her, taken aback, and then reached for her face with his hand. Suddenly he stopped, his eyes going narrow and his muscles tensed. And suddenly he focused, without moving a single muscle, in an entirely different direction.

For a moment she was sacred, and then just nervous. She wanted to ask him what it was, but didn't want to throw him off by speaking. Inuyasha always snapped at her for talking when he tried to concentrate on sounds or scents. Apparently she always got in his way.

"I smell something nasty." Koga told her, his face looking as if he were being forced to swallow bad milk. "Filthy, idiot's-blood." '_I'd know his scent anywhere…_'. Suddenly he took her by the hand again, and before she could make a sound, he was dragging her back to the cave. She tripped over herself and then broke into a sort of half walk – half jog to keep up with the man in front of her.

"What-?"

Firmly, he placed her inside the stone walls and then looked directly at her. "Don't move." He told her and she nodded breathlessly, feeling as if she didn't have another choice. As he paused to study her, his gaze softened a little.

'_Oh no. no, no, no. …_'

He put his hand suddenly on her neck, his thumb resting on the line of her jawbone, and just looked at her. She felt panicky… he _was_ looking at her in _that way_! Couldn't kidnappers these days just agree stay behind the lines of 'strictly business'? Or at least 'platonic' for crying out loud?

"Don't worry, Kagome," Koga said softly, the look in his eyes making her spine do strange tingly things that made her want to slap him. '_Stop it! Stop it!_' She scolded him mentally, though she said nothing out loud. '_Don't you _dare_! I don't _need_ this again!' _"I'm protecting you now." He finished, smiled and then gently, kissed the top of her head. All the while Kagome stared straight at the man's neck, directly in front of her, feeling numb while a little voice yelled: '_No! No! NO! What's wrong with these guys? Are there no other girls in the universe or something?' _

Giving her one last dreamy smile, at which the little voice screamed she should try to slap off his face, he left her behind, his long black hair trailing, wind blowing her hair around her face and her dress around her legs.

Immediately, she turned around, fuming, wiping at her forehead with the back of her palm viciously. "What _is_ this!" She screamed. She pictured the man, standing before her, blue eyes gentle, lips against her forehead, his long black hair hung over his shoulder.

"You're all crazy!" She shouted, her voice echoing. "And could someone give the three of you all major hair cuts!" She demanded, referring to the three: Naraku, Inuyasha _and_ this new guy. "I mean, for crying out loud! Why can't you all just-" Suddenly she stopped, her words frozen in her own mouth, halfway formed, like ice cubes stuck inside her chest. And everything gradually became still again as something… began… to sink… in. She turned around, at about the pace of a water droplet falling in slow motion, feeling numb.

"What…" She said softly, staring at the empty space he had left behind to surround her, "what did he just say?"

"_Don't worry, Kagome. I'm protecting you now." _

_Kagome. _So it was all '_Kagome'_ again.

It was _always_ Kagome.

She shook her head slowly, closed her eyes and sank down to the cave floor, just trying to breathe.

After a minute or two, she reopened her eyes to stare lifelessly at the floor. "So…" She said quietly, as if trying to start a friendly conversation with the empty cave around her, but it only acted as a microphone, amplifying the surroudning silence. Resignedly, she drew her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them, still staring. "What am I supposed to do now?" She asked, half hoping that somebody would actually answer, and feeling strange when nobody did.

OoOoOoOoO

"Get out of my territory."

Inuyasha halted, face to face with the blue-eyed man who had come down to meet him on the shore of the river. Beyond the demon prince, a sharp, green mountain jutted out of the land like a thumb, a series of plateaus leading to the ledge that was wrapped around the top. He knew that behind one of the water-falls, Kagome was inside.

And he could smell the men, Koga's pack, waiting on those plateaus, no doubt instructed to stay behind. Koga had come down, saving Inuyasha the trouble of having to go up. Well whatever. That was fine with him.

"Feh. I'd be glad to, you wimpy wolf."

Koga ground his teeth. "Don't call me that again." He said plainly.

"Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot." Inuyasha said sarcastically, his voice hardening in mock care-freeness. He smiled grimly. "… You haven't called me mutt-face, yet either, have you?" He asked, his voice raw with a growl. "Not that I'm complaining or anything."

For a moment Koga looked so mad that Inuyasha thought the other man just going to plain out jump forwards and bite him right then and there. But then a cruel, forced, coldness passed over his face and entered Koga's hard blue eyes. The prince seemed to relax, though just barely. "Heh." He said, tossing his head to the side, smiling cruelly, though his eyes never changed. "Those days are gone."

"Never knew the nick-name meant so much to you." Inuyasha said, maintaining the smile with the same coldness.

This time Koga met him with sincerity in his voice and expression. "Shut up."

It was still strange to not hear "mutt-face" at the end of every word. And while three years ago Inuyasha would have been glad to be rid of the rather derogatory term, now… well, things were different now. Everything was different between himself and the man who stood before him.

Was it twisted for the two of them to have only realized after they hated each other that they had never actually hated each other?

Inuyasha shook his head, that shouldn't make any sense.

But it did.

He supposed what it was then, was… that, call him crazy, but they had once been… friends. Once. Rivals, yes, seriously annoyed by each other, yes, pissed the hell off by each other, yeah that too. But also, in some strange way they had sort of... not hated each other. It was almost called "friendship". Or something close to it, only it had been royally fucked up and demented because lately everything that he touched seemed to be that way. He had fought with Koga, mostly over Kagome, because it was just in their nature to fight, but they had also, on rare occasion, saved each other's asses. And people like them, didn't save romantic rival ass, in fact, they didn't save any kind of ass. Unless they were family or… friend.

And they had called each other those names. But he supposed he never realized how much they hadn't meant it until after Kagome died, and Koga started actually hating him.

Yes, he knew that now, Koga hated him. Completely. And he knew because when he saw his once-friend, he never heard any traces of the word "mutt-face". His old, familiar nickname.

How strange that they only stopped insulting each other once their friendship was officially over.

But he supposed they were just screwed up that way…

"Heh." Inuyasha sharpened his talons and took a step forward. Koga tightened his stance.

Oh, fuck it.

"I'm taking her back." Inuyasha stated.

If it had come down to a choice between his friendship with the wolf prince and Kagome …

"The hell you are." Koga spat.

It wasn't even a matter of choosing.

"So I guess you'll just have to move out of the way." Inuyasha told him.

"Like hell."

Of course Koga had probably felt the same way. Probably had since the day the demon prince discovered that Kagome Higurashi was dead. … Truth be told, Inuyasha couldn't blame Koga for hating him. … He supposed that he would have hated himself too. In fact, if Koga hadn't hated him for losing Kagome, Inuyasha might have hated Koga for not hating him.

Like he said, the whole thing was just really too screwed up.

"You're stupid as ever, you know." Koga said. "Facing me with that wound."

Inuyasha bared his fangs.

"I don't know whether to be angry with your disrespect for not facing me while you're healthy," Koga said viciously. "Or to just laugh at your pathetic face." The demon prince let his hands clench into fists, and the laugh never quite reached his eyes. "But I think…" he started, taking only a single step, and then he was in the air. "I'll just kill you in stead!"

His heel connected with Inuyasha's jaw, and the hanyou could taste the blood that spurted into his mouth. As Inuyasha staggered backwards, he spit it out onto the ground, trying not to cough on the rusty, metallic taste.

And then, after a moment, he found himself grinning and looking Koga in the eyes. "Is that all you've got?"

It was a stupid question.

And he knew it.

Since the answer was obviously no.

But he really, didn't care.

Koga's face got harder, and Inuyasha prepared.

"You're going to be sorry that you ever came here again." Koga said darkly, his eyes covered by his bangs. "Even _I_ didn't think you were _that _dumb… If you were the kind of guy I thought you were, you'd never have returned, you'd _never_ even have come near me again after what happened between us three years ago!"

Inuyasha grit his teeth at the memory.

Koga was shaking. "You were lucky on that day, hanyou. Lucky, when you shouldn't have been." Koga said, making the word 'hanyou' sound like a dirty creature to be swallowed alive, still squirming in his throat. '_You were the _last _person who ever should have been …'_

Inuyasha watched the pained way in which Koga's fists tightened till his knuckles turned white. And then the other man became very, very still.

"But I doubt that you will still be so lucky… _today_!" Koga's voice escalated, and his punches flew.

By the time the two men were to be finished, the grass would be slick with that funny shade of brown you get when you cover green with bright red.

_Latent in every man is a venom of amazing bitterness... _

* * *

**A/N**: Ok so part one of this chapter is finished. The preview for part two was posted in the last chapter (before I knew that this chapter was going to be split in two). Only two halves I promise, and I've already got it partially written. Wish me luck guys!

-- and feel free to complain about writing style or lack there of, etc. etc. because I know I haven't been posting as of late.


	32. Pt II: This Scar Upon My Heart

**A/N**: So a reader made a comment about how she didn't like how she couldn't tell the flashbacks from present day dialogue. Well… I had been kind of been trying to create that effect, but I guess its just a little too frustrating, eh? So from now on, any memories or flashbacks will be put in their own individual sections, as in surrounded by those weird bar line things that I put to separate author's notes and disclaimers from actual text, and will also be italicized. As usual, present thoughts (not in flashbacks) will be put into italics, and regular dialogue in regular font. Okie dokie?

**Disclaimer**: No recognizable material belongs to me.

* * *

Kagome scrambled on the loose rock, headed for the valley that she knew she wasn't going to reach in time. The gravel was slipping away from beneath her feet, no matter where she stepped, as if she were running on water.

She heard herself cry out as her ankle twisted painfully the wrong way, again. She caught herself roughly, grabbing onto a root jutting out above her head. Her feet flew out from underneath her, and she let herself hang for a moment, heavy as lead, barely breathing.

Cautiously lowering herself back down, she tried to find something stable.

As she tested the ground, she tried to stop her breath and hands from shaking when she exhaled. One of these times, she was just going to run out of luck, and fall down the rest of the mountain, arms and legs flying and snapping like baby toys under the wheel of a mover truck. But no way was she getting back up again.

Her only chance was to go down.

That is, if she could even call it a 'chance'. It was more like suicide.

And, for once, Kagome wasn't trying to escape.

She was chasing down her two kidnappers, now that they'd finally left her alone. Proving to her that there was something very, very wrong with this world. But she couldn't help it.

Kagome let out another shriek as she slipped and crashed backwards, her body hitting the ground slamming the air out of her lungs before she rocketed forwards. When she hit a huge boulder planted in the slope, she felt her body splinter on impact. But she didn't care. She was alive. There was a new tear in her dress that ran all the way up to her thigh, and every square inch of her skin stung from being ripped raw against gravel. "Oh… my god." Kagome said slowly, through gasping breaths, her hair fallen into her face, she could barely see. "_Why _am I_ doing _this?!?" She forced the panic and shaking into her voice and exploded it out of her tattered lungs, adrenaline still pumping through her veins until she was ready to break.

When she saw something moving out of the corner of her eye, she screamed loudly.

A man had popped out of seemingly nowhere, and was staring at her rather quizzically, as if he were some sort of curious squirrel. "I don't know." He said quite honestly, staring at her, tilting his head. "Why _are_ you doing this?"

Kagome stuttered numbly, taking in the man's frighteningly wolf-like appearance. He had a strange hairstyle - silver and gray patched - and bright brown eyes. And what the heck was he _doing_ here?

"Do you need help?" He asked.

Kagome just made a little sound that not even she could identify. It was like a really little high-pitched "uh" thing. And though her hands were still raw at her sides from scraping against the rock, she was too stunned to feel the pain.

The young man seemed to scrutinize her carefully and then spoke again, "You know, you'd better get off the mountain. The wolves are getting hungry. We try to keep them from eating humans now but…"

Ok. If he was trying to calm her down, he _really _wasn't doing such a great job. "I've been _trying_." she said, slight irritation irking her voice.

"Oh. Right." The man smiled and bashfully rubbed the back of his head. "I forgot that it's harder for you humans."

Kagome bit her tongue to keep herself from shouting at him. _'Oh, Ya think?!'_

Immediately, another head popped out from around the corner. This one with a white mow hawk and even brighter, more wolf-like eyes. "Ginta!" He shouted.

"Ahh!" Kagome screamed again.

"Waaah!" The man screamed right back at her.

Ginta seemed startled at first, but he managed to keep his cool. "Hikkaku!" He scolded.

"Oh... It's just a human!" Hikakku said, after recovering from his scream, slightly out of breath.

Kagome herself was also breathing heavily, and refrained from the sudden urge to scream at him: "Oh it's just a bunch of physcos hiding out on a mountain and popping out of rocks!" But instead she just bit her tongue and decided to take very deep breaths.

"Listen, are you sure you're alright?" The first man, Ginta, said, pushing his companion aside. "It's gonna take you forever to try to get down like this."

Kagome stared down at the mountainside, and it was like a death sentence. No kidding.

"Do you want help?" Ginta asked again.

"_Ginta_!" The second man yelled. "You knowKoga won't like that!"

"Koga doesn't_ eat_ humans anymore!" Ginta defended.

Kagome felt the shiver run down her spine. _'Doesn't eat them "any_more"_?'_ As in like… he _used_ to?

"Yeah, but_ still_!" Hikkaku insisted.

Kagome watched as the men began to fight and decided to nip it in the bud. "Actually," She said, "some help would be _great_." She smiled, moving her hair out of her face and flipping it over her shoulder.

Big mistake.

"Ah…?"

"_Ah!"_

"AH!"

Kagome watched in puzzlement as the men's expressions simultaneously moved to utter shock, surprise, and finally blood-chilling horror.

"_GHOST_!" The two men shrieked, their voices escalating to impossible, almost girly pitches as they're eyes turned to bowling balls. They grabbed onto each other, turned around, and in seconds they were gone.

Needless to say the smile had not had its desired effect.

"Wh-what?" Kagome sat, shocked, before she became offended. "HEY!" She called after them, now angry and more than a little offended. "I'm _not _a _ghost_!"

OoOoOoOoOoO

"I'm sick of this." Inuyasha said, wiping a line of blood from his cheek. "Look, Koga-"

"If you apologize to me now, you're dead."

Inuyasha laughed bitterly. "Funny." He said. "Thought I already _was_ dead."

"Shut up." Koga grated out.

When Inuyasha crash landed into the dirt, his shoulder popped the wrong way, and when he stood again, he found himself re-locating it into its socket. It cracked loudly. "Ok." He got up raggedly and smiled grimly at the wolf prince. "_That _kind of hurt." He said, his expression all hard angles and shadows. "But only a little." He smirked.

Koga grit his teeth, lunged forwards, and smashed his fist into Inuyasha's face. The hanyou immediately locked his hands around Koga's forearm and sunk his teeth hard into the muscle, the taste of blood spurting into his mouth. He resisted the urge to spit.

Koga grunted in pain and ripped his arm out of the hanyou's mouth, holding it gingerly as he delivered a kick to Inuyasha's groin. The hanyou doubled over for a moment, and then charged forwards. The fight was just beginning. And he still hadn't drawn the Tetsuigia.

"Koga." Inuyasha grit out as he pinned the older man down into the dirt. "This – is – _ludicrous_."

"Is it?" Koga asked, his eyes narrowing as he threw Inuyasha over his shoulders and rolled up to a stand again. "Is it so '_ludicrous_' that I want to protect someone I care about?"

Inuyasha's fang pierced his lip, and his glare turned to electric poison.

"You had your chance, half breed." Koga spat. "And you blew it."

"I know." Inuyasha answered, getting up and finally, and drawing his sword. Koga's eyes narrowed. "But just because I screwed it up once, it does not mean that I'm giving up!" He charged, only to have Koga dodge and he turned on his heel. "I sure as hell am not giving up!" Inuyasha pulled out the blood from a chest wound and cracked his knuckles into stiff shapes. "And if you can't deal with that, then get out of my _way_! _Blades of Blood!_"

He slashed. And the two men's blood slapped on the grass, mixed and mingled into a darker shade of red.

OoOoOoO

"Is it really her?" Hikakku asked from behind his hiding place, a short, scraggily bush.

"I'm not sure." His companion answered, crouched down next to him behind the same bush.

"I mean, it _can't _be her!"

"Yeah…" Ginta leaned forwards and peered through their pathetic coverage of witling leaves. "But at the same time, it has to be!"

"Could she have come back to life?" Hikkaku questioned.

"I don't know… I suppose so. It happened to that other girl, didn't it? Oh, Kiki or something?"

"Oh. Right. Kiko."

"Yeah. That one."

Still unconvinced, the two men squatted low on their heels and watched as Kagome scrambled down loose gravel. If she weren't so engrossed in keeping herself alive, she probably could have spotted them in an instant.

They still caught the off exclamations of "Jerks!", "How dare they?" and the ever offended "Do I _look _like a ghost?!?"

"Do you think we should help her?"

"I don't know… she seems kind of scary."

"EEK!"

"Yeah… A bit." Hikakku agreed.

"Lets give her a few minutes to calm down. Then we'll offer to help her."

"…Ok."

The two men squatted low on their heels, and continued to watch. Too bad Kagome happened to catch them out of the corner of her eye. "Hey!" She rounded on them in a second. "You two!"

The wolf-men gasped as she stepped directly onto a rock that they knew wouldn't hold. "DON'T!" They both screamed at the same time, springing up from their hiding places.

A look of brief shock crossed over Kagome's face for a moment, and then the rock broke free. She was free falling.

The two men darted out onto the gravel, darting across it effortlessly, as if it were as solid as level pavement. Pebbled cascaded down the mountains in their twin wakes, as if they were running on water.

Expertly they reached up, caught her falling figure as if they'd done it a million times, sliding downwards on the loose gravel. Kagome could only stared dumbly as the ground their heels into the mountain face and slid to an easy stop.

"Phew." The one with spikey hair, who held to her lower half, grinned at her toothily. "That was kind of close."

"No kidding." Path-guy replied, holding onto her upper body. "What made you step on that rock like that? It was a horrible move."

Kagome was still stunned.

"Hey… do you, smell that?" Ginta suddenly grew stiff, his voice quiet.

The spikey haired man grew rigid beside his partner, and, for a moment, Kagome was reminded perfectly of a pair of wolves who had caught onto the scent of something alarming. Their eyes sharpened, and she could have sworn that the hair on the spike-guy's head raised slightly.

"It's… Koga."

"And Inuyasha."

"And it smells like…"

"Blood."

That snapped Kagome out of it. "Hey," She said softly, and the two men looked down at her. "Could you take me down there?" She asked.

"What!" The first exclaimed. "Are you crazy!?"

"It's where I want to go." Kagome said firmly. "I _need_ to get down there."

She saw the uncertainty in their eyes.

"I… I don't know."

"_Please_." She pleaded, fisting her hand in the man's skin. "I _need_ to get down there. If you bring me back up to the cave I'll only try again."

They looked at her, obviously torn. Before the spikey-haired one finally sighed, defeat. The other was the one who gave her their answer.

"Fine."

When she reached them, there was blood everywhere. She nearly wretched at the smell of it, pasted onto the ground, almost as badly as it had been with the ogre. When she saw the two men she almost felt her heart shrink deeper into her ribcage, painfully. They were covered in it, smears of blood ran along their arms, legs, faces. She wished she hadn't been there to see it.

Now what?

Now that she had gotten here, what was it that she had planned on doing? Throwing herself heroically between them? Saving the day? Somehow making everything right? She was the last person who could ever be expected to do something like that…

She was the one who was the most messed up, out of all of them. What difference had she expected herself to be able to make?

Inuyasha cried out in pain and shook her to her core. She watched, detached, and tried to force herself to remember that he was the one who had betrayed her. _He _was the man who she couldn't … who she had to kill to…

"Stop it." She said softly. But no one replied. "STOP!" she screamed it, and they didn't even hear her… she _was_ there wasn't she? She was… real.

She bit back tears and watched, with every movement she watched and every deadly tear that cut through their skin she felt herself grow farther and farther away from them. To Ginta and Hikakku, she appeared to be almost catatonic.

"Hey… is she okay?" Ginta whispered.

"I don't know." Was the answer. They looked at her warily, but said nothing.

Kagome's stare was ghostly detached; eyes as hollow as shells, her expression… too much like Kikyo's had been. For a moment, Kagome Higurashi might as well have been a ghost.

It was some point during the middle of the battle when Inuyasha noticed her standing there, far enough so that he could see her expression, but not close enough to be able to reach her. She stood on the shore of the river, watching. He couldn't stand for her to see something like this. "Kagome!" He reached out, and started towards her.

Koga whirled around, startled, and saw her as well. When Inuyasha started running, the wolf threw himself into the hanyou's path, knocking his rival in love to the side, and then pinning him down to the ground. "You – don't – _touch_ – her." He threatened, snarling like a wild animal. Any energy he had lost was suddenly regained at the reminder of the girl standing on the shore.

Inuyasha glared. "Koga get off."

"No."

"GET OFF!" Inuyasha broke his left fist free of Koga's grip and smashed Koga's jaw. His knuckles stung red afterwards, but he ignored the pain. When he was halfway across the ground, Koga had him again.

"As long as I'm standing, hanyou, you don't go near her."

Inuyasha looked down at him, irritated, and then turned to Kagome. It was then that he caught her hollow eyes, the way she stared at him and seemed… empty. He felt the pain flit through his body, and it wasn't from any of the injuries Koga had wrought him. This one was Kagome's alone…

"Get off me!" He kicked back viciously and Koga went sprawling backwards, blood in his mouth.

He leapt into the air, towards her, and she watched him approach, her expression barely changing. On the ground, Koga pushed his shaking form up from the ground. "I said _no_!"

"Ah!"

It felt like he was being crippled. Below him, Kagome came a little bit more alive, as she watched Koga's vicious kick come slamming down into Inuyasha's spine in mid-air.

She tried to force herself to take a step forward… but… the numbness that rang through her body kept herself from moving. She hated Inuyasha. For betraying her. She needed something to end. She needed someone to go. She couldn't afford to be pulled in all these different directions anymore. If … if one of them was dead, then things would be so much easier. And yet, she was still shaking from fear of losing him.

The kick sprawled Inuyasha away from her, onto the ground, his body stung. While Koga landed gracefully, kneeling to foster his wounds, his back towards her, but being the closer of the two.

Koga stared hard Inuyasha's prone form, contempt shining in his ice blue eyes. "You never _could_ protect her decently, _could_ you half-breed?" Koga sneered, his voice haggard. _'I always hated you for it.' _"Let's see if you still have that scar I left you the _last _time we fought… three years ago. On the day you let her die!"

Kagome's body suddenly stung with hurt and betrayal. Hearing it out loud, somehow, only made it worse. "No…" She felt as if her ribs were crushing, she could barely breathe. "I hate you, Inuyasha." She said. "I _hate _you!"

Her expression was livid with anger, cheeks flaming, skin pale, as she clenched her fists and watched. And in her heart there was only pain.

Inuyasha stood, breathing haggardly, and tried to stand, but it was clear that Koga's kick had not only hurt him, but opened the ogres wound even more. It was as if he had taken the same hit all over again, and this time he was forcing himself to stand. Blood poured down his back, but he stood. When he caught Kagome's voice, he slackened again. It was almost as if… she had just killed him.

Koga's fist was unforgiving. He ripped open Inuyasha's shirt, exposing his chest, already marred with scars. Kagome felt as if she'd bitten down on a wire of electricity when she saw the long, cruel, gash that ran over his left side, right over his heart. She almost couldn't take it.

Koga landed, and Inuyasha staggered forwards, and then tried to stand. He failed. She watched him fall to his knees, the scar imprinted in her mind.

"There it is…" one of the men said behind her.

"That's where it happened. Where Koga tried to rip out Inuyasha's heart."

"Looks like it hasn't healed very well."

"It probably never will."

His dark gold eyes looked up to meet hers, but she refused to break. She would not back down… she would not, no matter how much it hurt. It shouldn't hurt. It wasn't real. _This_ wasn't real! And yet she couldn't look away from him, half fallen over, his heaving breaths making it hard for him to stand, chest and bloody back heaving, and she felt something. She could only describe it as torrent of rushing water that was slowly pushing its way from her feet up to the bottom of her throat, making her feel dangerously full.

And when she finally managed to open her mouth to breath, a sort of clogged, choking noise came out, and she was sure it was from the ocean that was rising inside her. "I…" she tried to finish the sentence again, but couldn't. Before her, Koga stood rigid as a board.

She clenched her fists and stared at him, and she wished that he would just fall over already. She _wished_ that Koga would kill him after all the ways lied to her. Why wouldn't he just leave her alone? Why wouldn't he just go and –

She cut herself off in mid-thought, staring at him, and all the while the devouring currents of water rose higher and higher inside her. Had she really become this kind of person? To tell someone she hated them before they died? No… she … she couldn't. She wouldn't allow herself to become that kind of person. And the water rose even higher, choking her, moving up past her mouth and lips. But it didn't mean she had to save him. It didn't mean she _could_.

"You're gonna die, hanyou." Koga said quietly, watching the way Inuyasha's wavered, his face slick with pink sweat and blood stains. "And this time, I don't think you even need my help." He literally spat onto the ground as he spoke.

The river was almost up to the top of her head, and she felt as if she were falling farther and farther away from the world, being whisked away to some other place. The current inside her was so strong, and she just wanted to leave this all behind.

He finally gave up on her. She saw the painful resign in his beautiful eyes as he forced himself to look away from her, his gaze, form a moment all loneliness and pain. But it was only for an instant. Inuyasha looked at the wolf prince, and did the only thing he could think to do. He sort of gave the other man a broken half-smile and spat on the ground too, blood and all, dooming himself.

Koga's face grew livid. He started at him again, launching himself into the air, a deadly streak of ebony and brown. "Why, you-"

Kagome's breath hitched in her throat.

This was it.

Koga was going to kill Inuyasha.

He was going to kill him.

And afterwards it would be over for her. She would get away from him, and go back to Naraku. She would remember her past life, and be happy at last… if she could just get through this. She would be okay… if she just stand still a bit longer.

Kagome ran. Without thoughts, and without words. It just seemed to happen.

Koga barely had enough time to react.

The wolf-prince tore to the left, suddenly, and skid on the ground, grunting against his jostled body. Just in the nick of time.

She was holding Inuyasha so tightly that she was sure it must have hurt him, her face pressed into the very same scar that was burning into her mind, right over his heart. She could feel it beating, its rhythm irregular and fluttering. For a moment, all three of them stared, shocked at what she had done. She refused to realize it at first. '_No…'_ this wasn't happening again. '_No_.' She tried to force it out of reality, out of her mind. She didn't want to accept it. Her arms weren't really around him. She hadn't just done that. But then, she started to cry, and knew that she had. '_I can't.'_

The water in her grew deeper and deeper despite the way it drained from her eyes in tears. "I hate you…" She whispered. His arms came around her tightly. He held onto her as if she were his only anchor to life, and at this point, she probably was. He was crushing her, but the pressure almost felt good on her drained body. Her tears came pouring out, and she buried her face in his silver hair, pressing herself into him as if trying to stop herself from breathing air. Tear-stained and swollen-faced, she lifted her head off of his chest and the scar and pressed it into his neck, burying herself in an ocean of soft silver. "I hate you." She whimpered against his neck, and then said it louder. "I _hate_ you…" Her voice was thick with someone else's tears, and cracking with heartache.

Inuyasha's arms were unyielding on her; it was as if he wasn't quite able to hang on. "I know." He said, his own voice cracked and heavy, riddled with pain. He dug one hand on the top of her head and let it pull down to the nape of her neck, continued to press her into him. "I know," he said it, again. And then, "I'm sorry." He said once her, inside his mind, he'd already said it a thousand times. _'I'm so sorry.'_

From a distance, Koga watched them break. And his Kagome continued to cry…

* * *

**AN:** That was a _bitch_ to write. I haven't reread it, I'm pretty sure it's crap. So… if reviewers agree I'll rewrite it. I'll come back and read it later. This story is really quite frustrating.

**BJIEOWRJKDLSJIOHREIROEJDKSFLJIFOREWHOIKTEJRMDLKFSJLK:FIEROHTWEIOTSDKLJFV((UE)$JRIEFOSDKVMIOW#UREOIJDFSHFHJDKSHFJDJDJDJDJDJ! – **this describes my feelings about that chapter.

Review if you'd like. I don't think I'd want to.


	33. The Aftermath

**A/N**: Okay! So I know that this story has been going ridiculously slowly. Because of this I plan on trying to wrap it up really soon. In fact that's my only goal for it. I know what I need to do. Now its just a matter of sitting down and writing it all out.

:-P sorry for the shortness. I'll try to get back soon.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha. If I did it probably wouldn't be nearly as popular. (wink).

* * *

It took Inuyasha a week to gain consciousness, and then another three days to be well enough to talk to anybody. It was then that they held conference in his chamber. By the end of the talk, everyone agreed that there one thing they had to do: kill Naraku.

Upon this single point everyone agreed, if not for the sake of their own individual wants for vengeance, then for their common need to avenge Kagome, and potentially cure her. Nobody told Kagome about their decision.

They held the midnight conference in the dead of night, when Sango was sure that the other girl was sleeping.

"_What_!" Koga shouted, his fist cracking against the wall of the cave. Shards of granite and powder fell onto the ground. When he retracted it, Miroku observed the fist-sized crater with mild interest. He wondered how Koga planed on mending it.

"That's what he told her." Inuyasha said darkly, having just finished telling the story that Kagome had told him. The one Naraku had told her after she'd woken up. The one where he claimed to have loved her. Inuyasha watched his talons ball fists into his red jacket that had been laid over his lap, his ears flicking at Koga's violent reaction. Beside him laid a pile of freshly bloodied rags from the cleaning of his wounds.

"Damn." Koga said angrily staring at the fire in the center of the circle, his blue eyes blazing with equal intensity. "_Damn_!"

"It makes sense." Miroku said darkly. "Naraku kills Kagome to create the opportunity to re-wire her brain. He blocks out all of her memories of us and her past life, and by doing this he gives himself a blank slate. Then he uses this to turn her against us, because he knows that she's the only person we'd never be able to hurt."

"He's done it before." Sango said quielty. "The same thing with my brother, Kohaku." Beside Miroku, the slayer grew incredibly still, staring at the fire. The monk did his best to quietly ignore her pain and support her at the same time. She finally spoke again. "And we never did figured out how to cure him."

Miroku shifted uncomfortably, trying to ignore the hurt and anger that was radiating from his wounded lover.

"No." Koga said suddenly. "It's not the same. She remembers things. Her memories are not gone."

"And what the hell makes _you_ so sure?" Inuyasha asked suddenly from his spot around the fire. "The only time she ever remembers anything is in dreams, and she's skeptical of every one once she wakes up again. No matter how many times I try to convince her that they've actually happened she doesn't believe me. To her they're just _garbage_."

"_I_ know she can remember things because she remembered _my_ name dumb-fuck!" Koga rounded, just as angry as the hanyou.

It was the first conversation they had had with each other since the fight. And Miroku observed that it only contained one profanity - which he took to be a good sign.

On the opposite side of the fire Inuyasha grew incredibly still. "You're lying." He said.

"I'm not." Koga spat. "She remembered my name the first time I saw her." Koga said, some sort of cruel satisfaction gleaming in his eyes. "I heard it. She looked at me and called me by name."

"I don't believe you." Inuyasha said, fury raging in his voice. "I don't-"

"Inuyasha, you should be happy." Sango interjected, her voice like iron. "If Kagome remembered something then maybe it's a sign that she could-"

Inuyasha stood, livid, cutting Sango off. "There's no way she would fucking remember _this _piece of filth's name if she couldn't remember yours, or Miroku's, or mine! There no way in _hell_ she'd remember something about _him_ and nothing about m-"

"Silence!" Miroku shouted. "The two of you are so selfish that you could make me sick! _Inuyasha._" He said, rounding on his friend who barely kept himself from taking a step back in surprise. "Koga may be many things, but he is not a liar. He cares for Kagome just as much as the rest of us, so sit back down and work with him." With that he rounded on the wolf prince, who had been snickering at Inuyasha's scolding. "Koga, what you're saying doesn't make sense. If she knew your name before then why doesn't she know it now?"

Koga blinked, surprised, before he away, gaze cast over his left shoulder. "She didn't remember it afterwards. It was only for a moment."

Inuyasha scoffed and Koga shot him a nasty look. "When I found her last night _unprotected-_" He stressed the word to make sure that Inuyasha heard it. "She was buried under a pile of Naraku's demons. I figured it was too late, but just when I got to her, her powers kicked in. She purified all the demons around her, floated up into the air. Then she looked at me and called me by my name."

There was a long pause of silence, where his audience tried to absorb what he was saying.

"By the time she got back down, she had no idea who I was. No recognition - nothing. And that's the way it's been ever since."

"You say that she was using her holy powers?" Miroku asked, exchanging glances with Sango.

Koga nodded.

"She hasn't done that since she came back." Sango said to Miroku. "I never even thought to ask her about them."

"She was purifying the demons… in order to survive." Miroku thought out loud, his smoky violet eyes trained in the fire.

"Are you _sure_ you heard her right?" Inuyasha asked.

Koga's face shot up to meet the hanyou's. "You trying to call me a liar again?" he asked dangerously.

"Are you _sure_ you know what you heard?" Inuyasha repeated, leaning forwards.

Koga took a moment to sneer at his opponent before he finally leaned back again, resting his hands on his crossed legs as he sat up straight. "I know exactly what I heard. She looked me right in the eyes, and she knew me. I could see it. She said my name without hesitating at all. It was only after the sacred light stopped coming from her body that she seemed to have no idea who I was or what had happened."

Miroku frowned. "It doesn't make sense."

Suddenly a hard, cold wind burst through the cave and extinguished the fire as easily as if it were a candle. Sango rolled into Miroku with a gasp. The monk caught her and braced them against the sudden gale. Weakened, Inuyasha nearly missed being smashed into the wall, wind plastering his hair back until it pulled at his scalp and made it hard to breathe. In front of him, Koga shot his hands forward to catch himself, his pony tail whipping around his shoulders and stinging his skin.

After a moment it subsided and the group collectively gasped for air.

"What in the seven _hells_-!" Inuyasha took his arm away from his face and Miroku and Sango looked up, still holding to each other.

"Doesn't make sense?" A dark figure stood in the entryway of the chamber, delicate fan held gracefully to against her chest. The moon shone on Kagura's flawless skin and her eyes gleamed bloody red against the glowing embers of the extinguished fire. Starlight was their only source of light now, and it took them a moment to adjust to the sudden dark. The wind-witch's wicked smirk was visible in even the thickest dark. "Of course it does."

The four knew her almost at once.

"_Kagura_." Koga snarled, turning his head and spotting the woman who had slain his kin. "You're _mine_!" Lunging at her without warning, the wolf demon started his deadly attack.

The sorceress barely had enough time to send another gust of icy wind at her attacker. It slowed him down considerably. She smiled again. For Koga it was unbearable. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Koga." She said, mockingly.

The wolf-prince fought his way forward through the wind, determination glittering in his icy blue eyes. "Oh yeah?" he asked angrily. "Why's that?"

"Because," Kagura said, motioning with her fan to stop the wind. Koga stumbled forwards before he could shift his weight. "I have a message from Naraku about your dear Kagome."

The room went still. And for a moment everyone stared.

* * *

**A/N**: Mkay so that was very, very short. My appologies, I'm just trying to push this thing to its finish.

:-P laters.

xx- nani


End file.
